The Stormbreakers: A Stellaris Story

[Macavity116]

Wait, is Jericho deliberately splitting up the Stormbreakers!?

At that particular point in time, Jericho was aboard the Trinity, having her big reunion with Mira during Chapter 39. She didn't learn about the 15 new Battlemasters until after Blake fell from the Nagasaki ATC tower. Putting Blake in charge of the Niagara was a joint idea between Mira Mihaka, Laura Harper/Asaru, and John Bradford. They came up with it once the UNE had made contact with the Triple Alliance fleet (just before the Battle at Barnard's Star in Chapter 38) They know that in all previous Cycles, Blake stayed on Earth during the final battle and ultimately spent the War in Heaven in a direct confrontation with Akira. The general plan this time around is to keep him in space.

Well, Sophia jumped last chapter, right? And pulled Blake with her? Does that screw up Akira’s plan?

Oh, yes. Akira's plan is very badly screwed up right now. Not only did Blake fall from the tower, but if/when he wakes up, he's going to lay the blame for the entire incident on Akira... who was last seen bleeding, blacked out, and incapacitated in the tower. If XCOM doesn't arrest Akira, the Partogans will kill her; and if the Partogans don't kill Akira... Chihiro will do it. Time-traveling daughter or not, seriously harming Chihiro's husband is a capitol offense in her eyes.

How did nobody recognize Akira? She’s a galactic war criminal - and her ship got picked up by Partogans.

The crew of the Irirangi Ranginui completely dropped the ball and failed to spot Akira, but special blame goes to Toa Hahona for failing to recognize Akira during a direct conversation, although her Psionic Manipulation might have tipped the odds against him. Akira also owes her escape to good luck. A single Psionic Blackout would have given her away instantly. The risk of being caught in a Blackout is why Akira's disguises have become simple and somewhat transparent these days.

Of course, it's difficult for anyone to keep an eye out for Akira now that her signature spacecraft has come under new ownership (and acquired 29 identical sisterships)

 

[Macavity116]

<== Previous Chapter (Green and Blue)

Next Chapter (The First Day) ==>​

The Second Hyperspace War: Stories from the Front
#5: Parting of the Ways​

July 8, 2025
Hanapepe Bay, Kauai Island, Pacific Ocean

Unlike the vast majority of children on Earth, Jericho hated mealtimes. As a homeless person living on the fringes of society, getting something to eat was rather difficult and involved running a gauntlet full of risks. The same had been true for Jericho until recently. A couple of years ago, Jericho had figured out a quick and easy way to get meals each day that worked almost 100 percent of the time. Unfortunately, the process involved doing something rather humiliating.

That is why Jericho was in higher spirits than normal today. If everything went according to plan, she would never have to do this again.

Just before noon, Jericho stood on the sidewalk in the downtown area, dressed in a red and black sundress. It looked as though she was wearing the ADVENT Coalition flag. Jericho took a moment to tie up her hair in pigtails and put on the “most adorable smile a 12-year-old could possibly have” in accordance with her employer’s wishes. Then, she waited for the first group of window shoppers to come down the street. Whenever someone passed by the spot where Jericho was stationed, she would do a cute little dance, point to the nearby fast-food restaurant and sing this jingle:

“When you’re tired or hungry or just need a treat, go to ADVENT Burger, the place for meat!”

Like clockwork, any and everyone Jericho approached thought it was a good idea to stop what they were doing and enjoy a juicy, delicious burger. Before the lunch hour was over, every seat in the building had been taken by happy customers. Jericho, meanwhile, had been patted on the head by complete strangers at least a dozen times and was growing quite sick of people saying “Aw, she looks so cute!” at the sight of her. A select few strangers insisted on having their picture taken with Jericho, which she found to be more annoying than anything else. It took all of Jericho’s self-control to prevent herself from hauling off and smacking a few of the more irksome people. On the one hand, Jericho absolutely hated playacting like ADVENT Burger’s cutesy mascot, but the free food was worth an hour of embarrassment.

The man who operated the local chain restaurant had no idea how or why Jericho could convince people to eat there without fail every day, but he never questioned it. When her shift was done, he paid Jericho in food and sent her on her way. Jericho thanked her employer, grabbed a paper bag with a couple of burgers in it, and then left, ignoring his voice when he called out after her:

“So, I’ll see you same time tomorrow, kid! Alright?”

Moving quickly, Jericho left the burger joint behind, pausing in a quiet alleyway only to discard her mascot costume before moving on. She took only a few nibbles out of the double-sized burger in her carry-out bag, knowing that this food would need to last her for quite some time.

Jericho moved out of the town and positioned herself on top of one of the many rocky cliffs that make up Kauai’s southern shoreline. She was so excited that she couldn’t stay still, instead choosing to pace back and forth while she watched the horizon and waited.

Two years ago, Jericho had met a strange woman with one purple eye who seemed to be a very Humanlike alien. The stranger had given her some sound advice on how to leave Kauai forever, and finally seek out a better life in another part of the world. Jericho had spent the past two years making all of the preparations to follow through on the woman’s advice. She had memorized the schedules of the tanker ships that crossed the ocean. She knew about their security measures and how to defeat them; and she also knew exactly where today’s boat was going.

And then her ride came over the horizon. A huge fuel tanker sat high on the water, a sign that its hold was currently empty. Jericho knew that her time to get off this island had finally come. She was more than ready to leave behind a place she had lived in but never called home.

The crunching sound of a paper bag caught Jericho’s attention, and it was followed by a voice:

“You know, I’ve heard all about the ADVENT Burgers but I’ve never actually had once. Like, seriously! Where do they even get the meat!? When was the last time anyone actually saw a cow!?”

Looking behind her, Jericho saw three people, one of whom she actually needed to talk to, while the other two were completely unwelcome.

Duane Gardner was just over two years older than Jericho, while his older brother Marcus had just turned nineteen. Both Duane and Marcus were extremely attractive, they both had friendly eyes and neat dark hair that could catch the eyes of any girl. In fact, there was an admirer practically hanging off Marcus’ arm when he greeted Jericho. A half-Asian girl with light brown skin had wrapped her arms around Marcus in a very possessive kind of way. Jericho had met this person a few times. She was a new member of the gang of homeless teenagers Jericho would sometimes hang out with. Her name was Alohalani Pelekai, although her friends would just call her “Alani” for short.

Marcus Gardner had just taken another big bite out of Jericho’s ADVENT Burger.

“So,” he said through a mouthful of food. “You wanna explain why you asked my brother to meet you here alone?”

Damnit. Jericho thought to herself. Can’t trust Duane to keep anything from his brother. Why the hell did he bring Alani, too?

Duane turned red, as though he knew exactly what Jericho was thinking. He probably did, owing to his Gift.

“I’m sorry.” He said quickly. “Alani found your note in the old hotel before I did.”

Jericho stamped her feet, balled up her fists, and puffed out her cheeks in a pouting expression, glowering towards Alani, who giggled mischievously and hid behind Marcus.

“I wanted to talk to Duane, alone.” Jericho put a lot of emphasis on that final word. “About something important! Can you two morons go back down the hill or something!?”

Marcus rolled his eyes and started to march back the way he’d come, pulling Alani behind him.

“I’m keeping this!” Marcus waved the half-eaten burger over his head as he departed.

“We won’t listen, we promise!” Alani added, winking at Duane in a devilish way.

One more time, Jericho stole a glance over her shoulder at the bay. The ocean vessel was slowly pulling into port and would be docked in about half an hour. That gave her plenty of time to do what needed to be done. Before she could get her thoughts straight, however, Duane had closed in and embraced Jericho, a move that was so unexpected that she was left disoriented for a few seconds.

“You’ve never asked me to meet you alone somewhere.” Duane said. “I gotta say, I like this new side of you.”

The rush of blood to her head cleared Jericho’s thoughts. She knew that Duane was expecting some kind of romantic encounter up here, alone on the top of the cliff, but Jericho had known for some time that this needed to be done, and she had already rehearsed her own part in what was about to happen.

Duane’s first indication that this meeting was about to take a turn was when Jericho telepathically shielded her own mind from intrusion. The raising of Psionic defenses is something most Gifted people can recognize right away, and Duane was no exception. Then, Jericho put both hands on Duane’s chest and began to push him away.

“Listen, Duane.” Jericho began, “There’s something I gotta say.”

“Alright, go ahead.”

“I’ve uh, I’ve decided that I can’t stay here anymore.” Jericho tried to project confidence into her voice. “I’m leaving… today.”

Jericho heard Duane’s breath catch in his throat. Then she realized he was still holding her in place with both hands.

“What!?” Duane’s voice cracked. “No… you can’t leave!”

“I’m sorry, Duane!” Jericho insisted. “But you know how much I hate Kauai, and I know you’ve heard me talk about leaving before. Now I’ve got a chance to get out of here and-”

“You can’t leave!” Duane protested. “You have friends here! You’ve got a place to live and food, and there’s a whole Gene Therapy clinic in town! Don’t go!”

“Duane, I live in an abandoned hotel!” Jericho protested, now pushing Duane away even harder, which only made him tighten his grip on her. “I have to sing and dance for food, and you and I both know there’s something fishy going on at that Clinic! I can’t stay! I don’t want to stay!”

Duane seemed to be getting desperate.

“You’d still be living in the forest if I hadn’t shown you where to find that hotel!” There was a trace of anger in Duane’s voice now. “And what the hell do you think would have happened if someone else found you with that ‘I’ll do anything for food’ sign!? I probably saved your life! After everything I’ve done for you since we met, you would be an idiot to just throw away the last two years! I thought you loved me!”

“I do, but-”

“Then stay!”

Emphasizing his words, Duane gripped Jericho’s arm so hard that she cried out in pain! Instantly, a supernatural jolt ran up her arm and into Duane’s hand! The force of the shock caused Duane to let go of Jericho and step backwards.

“Jericho! You’re making a mistake! You need to stay here with me! You won’t make it anywhere by yourself!”

“You’re wrong!”

Jericho was starting to back away now. She had not counted on Duane becoming angry! She’d expected him to be upset, but now she was starting to sense violent impulses flashing through his mind. Psionic energy was starting to build up in the back of his mind! Duane was going to grab Jericho, hold her, force her to stay with him on Kauai!

Jericho’s eyes flickered to the bag of food on the ground, then to the bay, then back up at Duane. This had not gone to plan at all, it was time to cut her losses and run.

“Man, I was gonna ask if you wanted to come with me!” Jericho said, taking a few steps back, “But now I’ve changed my mind!”

“No, you haven’t!” Duane insisted. “You’re my girlfriend, you have to stay with me!”

Jericho turned and bolted!

Sprinting down the hillside, she used Psionics to enhance her pace, shooting past Marcus and Alani at high speed! Jericho could hear the Gardners and Alani shouting to one another behind her, and as she threw herself into the small forest that lay between the shoreline and the town of Hanapepe, Jericho could hear all three people calling her name.

Jericho cursed her own bad judgement! She should have just snuck away in the night without leaving a note! She should have just made herself disappear! A telepathic pulse hit Jericho and made her head spin! She stumbled on the roots of an old tree before pulling herself upright and continuing to run! Duane, Marcus, and Alani were all much older than Jericho, and of the three teenagers, two were Gifted. The gap between Jericho and her pursuers was being closed!

Jericho erupted out of the treeline and found herself in the old abandoned cemetery. Nearly all of the tombstones had either been knocked down or fallen over on their own, and were now obstructed by tall grass. In the center of the graveyard, a pile of concrete rubble was all that remained of some building that had been knocked down during the 2015 War and never rebuilt. The town of Hanapepe itself was just on the other side of the forgotten graveyard.

Jericho thought up a plan to shake Duane and his brother. In the back of her mind, she remembered the voice of her mother, and a lesson she had learned in the forest cabin so long ago:

“There’s nothing wrong with running from someone who is bigger and stronger than you, but when you do have to run, make sure to cover and conceal yourself. Do something to distract them while you slip away and hide.”

Jericho broke into a run once more, crossing the graveyard and running directly towards the town! Another Psionic pulse rippled out of the forest behind her, and Jericho felt the wave hit her and bounce back towards wherever it had come from!

“She’s over here!” Alani yelled. “Hey guys!”

Halfway through the graveyard, Jericho stopped and turned around, panting. Alohalani was on the edge of the graveyard and had turned around to face the forest, waving her arms to catch Duane and Marcus’ attention. Jericho saw the opportunity and seized it! Reaching out with her mind, Jericho scanned the cemetery for corpses. She didn’t want to hurt anyone, just take their eyes off herself. Finally, Jericho picked a badly decomposed body hidden inside of the rubble of the collapsed building.

Jericho had only done this a few times before, to escape from danger whenever a gunfight between ADVENT and the Resistance broke out, but she had long since worked out the metaphorical kinks and could now use this technique without fail! A swirling ball of Psionic energy formed in front of Jericho’s hand, and she launched it towards the collapsed building! Bright purple light exploded around the small area, causing Alani to look around, just in time to see the concrete rubble starting to shift as something buried underneath moved on its own.

Jericho sent a telepathic command to her new minion:

“Stop her from calling her friends over here!”

A thing rose up from the rubble and stood upright! The dead Human body had clearly lain here for a very long time, because there wasn’t much of it left besides the skeleton. A semitransparent body, made from Psionic energy, shimmered with violet light. The Spectral Zombie looked from Jericho to Alani, put its head down, and charged!

Both Jericho and Alani screamed! Somehow, Jericho had lost all control over the Spectral Zombie and it was acting on its own!

Alani’s jaw fell open as she saw the Spectral Zombie closing on her! Alani and her foe both raised their hands at the same time! The Spectral Zombie struck the young girl across the face! She stumbled backwards, bleeding from her mouth and nose! The Psionic creature struck Alani one more time and she fell to the ground!

Jericho screamed!

“No! That’s too much! Stop!”

The Spectral Zombie ignored Jericho’s command and moved to strike Alani again! Lying on her back, Alani put both of her arms up to defend herself! She reached forward with one hand, made a grabbing motion as though she was trying to hold onto something invisible… and pulled!

It seemed as though Alani had torn a hole in the Universe itself! An all-consuming pit of darkness, no bigger than a coin, swallowed the Spectral Zombie completely before drawing in the ground and air around it! Alani’s power wiped out everything around the Zombie! It annihilated matter, destroyed space, stopped time, and then abolished the empty void left behind!

Jericho did not stay to see what happened next. She fled the graveyard and into the town of Hanapepe. Behind her, she could hear Alani crying out for help, begging Duane and Marcus to come to her rescue! Scrambling along the next street, Jericho crashed headlong into a group of ADVENT Peacekeepers, who were running in the opposite direction, looking alarmed.

“Did you see it!?” One of them asked her. “Was that in the old graveyard!?”

“Y-yes!” Jericho stammered.

The group of Peacekeepers ran around Jericho, charging their Gauss Rifles as they went. In hindsight, Jericho realized that this was the distraction she actually needed. Not letting the opportunity go to waste, Jericho got her bearings and sprinted towards the harbor. With any luck she would be able to get away from Kauai, away from Duane, and away from whatever the hell Alohalani had just done…

…

December 29, 2032
Baruun-Urt, Mongolian Steppe, East Asia

The Mongolian winter is not to be taken lightly. The brutal wind cut across the frozen steppe, sapping the heat out of any foolish traveler. Roads were nearly impossible to find. Snow drifts had buried them completely, leaving the convoy of trucks slowly and cautiously across the vast frozen desert.

Fortunately, Duane Gardner and his brother Marcus were experienced travelers these days, as were the devotees they travelled with. Some ten trucks and cars, a mix of old and new world vehicles, travelled together in single-file line behind a pickup truck. The lead vehicle, being driven by Marcus, had a snowplow mounted in the front. In the passenger seat, Duane took another look at his map and pointed out the windshield towards the crest of a nearby hill.

Finally, after travelling for nearly four days, the pilgrimage was over. The convoy of vehicles, having served their purpose, were parked along the now-plowed road. A few men were left behind to refuel, repair, and guard the convoy. Everyone else followed Duane and Marcus towards their destination.

The Mongolian town of Baruun-Urt survived both the 2015 Alien Invasion and the rise of the ADVENT Coalition completely intact, owing mostly to the fact that the nomadic lifestyle of the Mongolian people is deeply incompatible with ADVENT’s policy of permanently concentrating the Human population into large cities. Furthermore, the region is so sparsely populated the aliens chose to (mostly) ignore it, focusing on higher-value targets.

When Duane and his fellow pilgrims arrived on the town, they found that nearly all of the rumors they’d heard about this place were true. A battalion of ADVENT soldiers had recently marched through here, causing widespread death and destruction. Most of the surrounding farmland had been pillaged and subsequently burned, causing a famine, which in turn had led to a deadly outbreak of cholera.

By all accounts, this epidemic should have wiped out the entire town, leaving only a settlement of ghosts and silence in its wake… yet it still stood. Some ten-thousand people were still here, weathering the winter as best they could and showing no signs of sickness. It seemed as though the spread of illness had been magically stopped in its tracks, and if the rumors were to be believed, this miracle had been the work of a certain “blue-haired angel.”

Duane and his pilgrims arrived in Baruun-Urt in the middle of the day, just in time to find the people involved in some kind of festival or celebration. Thousands of men, women, and children were gathered around what had once the town’s main square and were engaged in a fairly energetic party, complete with outdoor cooking and children playing on a large sheet of ice. In the middle of it all, a wooden platform was shielded from the elements by an utterly massive tent made from animal skins. Here, a group of Mongolian men had placed a clearly-foreign girl on a throne-like chair and were offering her gifts of food.

Duane wasn’t sure which of his fellow pilgrims had recognized Jericho first, but the words “Blue Hair!” started to spread through his group like wildfire. A few Mongolian partygoes spotted the new arrivals and greeted them cheerfully.

“Who are you? Where did you come from?”

“We heard Jericho brought a miracle to you.” Duane said. “We’ve come to see it for ourselves.”

A local man nodded and raised a cup in a salute-like gesture.

“It’s true! The blue-haired angel drove the sickness from our town! She healed our injured people, and then cured us of our ailments. Today, we celebrate in her honor!”

Duane’s pilgrims were welcomed into the festival and served with hot food. It was made clear that they were expected to donate a small portion of their meals to Jericho, who was planning to leave soon, and was being sent on her way with a truck full of supplies.

Inside of the main tent, Duane found Jericho.

One would think that after using her powers to heal an entire town full of sick and injured people, Jericho would look rather tired. But they would be wrong. Thanks to her unique power, Jericho was replenishing herself faster than her powers were being drained. Ten thousand happy and healthy people had filled her with far more life and energy than usual. She saw Duane arrive, and with some caution, set down her bowl of hot soup and stood up to greet him. Even though Jericho was wrapped up in a Mongolian heavy winter coat, it was plain to see that she had grown and developed a great deal since the last time Duane had spoken to her.

“Jericho… it’s been too long.” Duane said.

“Gardner.” Jericho tried to keep the iciness out of her voice. “I’ve heard a lot about what you’ve been up to for the last couple years.”

Jericho leaned to one side and looked out of the tent. Duane’s fellow pilgrims all gasped at the sight of Jericho and clasped their hands together as though they were about to start praying. Jericho used telekinesis to draw down the yurt walls, hiding herself and Duane from view.

“Ever since you reappeared.” Duane said. “I’ve been searching for you trying to get back to you. I asked so many people for help finding you!”

“Yeah.” Jericho folded her arms. “And in the process, you told anyone and everyone about me. You told them everything about me, including the stuff I’d rather keep private!”

Duane hung his head.

“How else could I make them listen to me?” He said.

Wrong answer.

“Have you never heard the phrase “don’t kiss and tell?” Jericho sounded incensed. “Duane, we were both kids back then! Neither of us knew what we were doing, and now here you are, making people think we were like freakin’ Helen and Paris! You ever stop to think I might not wanna share my love life with half the god-damned planet!?”

Duane tried to say something, but Jericho wasn’t done scolding him yet. She carried on, but kept her voice low as to not alarm anyone outside.

“Look, you wanted to find me, there’s nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is that you built a mostly fake cult of personality around me just to figure out where I am! What the hell were you thinking was going to happen when you found me, anyway!?”

“Well,” Duane stammered. “I thought, I guessed that you would… When you saw how many followers I got for you…”

Jericho looked very angry now.

“Lemme get this straight…” She pinched her nose in frustration. “You convinced people to worship me, damn near built a fucking religion around me… just so I could get back together with you!?!?”

Duane didn’t answer. He tried to send Jericho a telepathic message, but her mental defenses were up.

“Get out.” Jericho hissed through her teeth. “Get. Out. Now.”

“But…”

“Unlike you, Duane, I’ve got much bigger problems to deal now. So you just leave me alone, aright!? I’ve got to get going and find my mom!”

Duane pointed towards the tent wall.

“What about the people who’ve dedicated their lives to you?” He asked.

Jericho frowned in thought.

“Tell you what, Duane.” She said. “You stop telling people about our relationship and I’ll give those people a little help.”

“Well, what am I supposed to say then?” Duane asked. “How will people know about how we were connected?”

“Uhg, don’t say ‘connected!’” Jericho answered. “What’s wrong with just saying we were childhood friends?”

Duane sighed.

“We were so much more than that, Jericho.” He protested. “We are so much more than that.”

“We broke up, Duane.” Jericho said definitively. “You gonna take my deal or not?”

“I’ll disagree with you on that,” Duane finished. “But yes, I will. For your followers.”

…

Jericho’s presence was so noticeable that the entire winter festival fell silent when she emerged from the tent. She found that the forty or so men, women, and children who had traveled here with Duane had gone down on their knees and were engaged in a group prayer. Putting on a kind face, Jericho addressed the group.

“I’m so touched that so many of you came out here to find me, and I’m sorry that you only succeeded on the day I’m supposed to leave. The fact is that someone very important to me was taken by the Elders, and I have to keep going to find them. I’m not going to let your journey end without anything to show for it, though. I’ve promised Duane that I’ll give half of my food supplies to you all for your return trip, and before I leave, I will provide Psionic Healing to any and all who ask for it. I’ll ask for nothing in return.”

One of Duane’s pilgrims, a Gifted old man, raised his voice and said:

“You have already done so much for the people around us. Pray do not waste your energy on us, who have only come to witness your deeds. You don’t need to exhaust yourself on our account.”

“Trust me, it’s not a waste.” Jericho replied and held her arms out wide. “It’s kinda hard to explain, but I get my powers from everyone around me, so I’ll never exhausts myself. Not permanently anyway.”

Duane’s telepathic intuition felt a twinge of regret flicker through Jericho’s mind. She had, without intending to do so, contributed to her own legend. He jumped at the opportunity:

“Jericho is the Avatar of nature, her power comes directly from the heart of the Earth itself! Your health is the will of the Earth, manifest in her perfect hands! Would you really turn down such a Gift!?”

“Tone it down, Duane.” Jericho telepathically warned him. “I only said I’d heal these folks. Heavenly bliss is off the table.”

…

At the end of the day, Jericho’s pickup truck, heavily laden down with food and winter clothing, rumbled away from the town, heading east towards the Chinese frontier. Duane’s pilgrims were in extremely high spirits, many of whom were feeling a hundred times better than they had before Jericho had touched their hands.

Marcus gently patted his brother’s shoulder and said:

“Well, we found her. Now what do we do?”

“She said she was going to rescue someone from the Elders.” Duane replied. “We can help her by spreading the good word. Maybe we can catch XCOM’s attention and get her some serious help.”

“I like that idea.” Marcus commented. “We might just do a little good, oh, and by the way, Alani says she watched Jericho healing our folks and she thinks she’s got the technique figured out. We might be able to heal folks ourselves from now on.”

Both brothers smiled in agreement.

“Let’s do some good in Jericho’s name.”

…

January 10, 2036
Inside the Fortress of the Chosen Warlock, Wizard Island, Oregon

In the six months that had passed since the death of its previous owner, the ADVENT Fortress located on an island in the middle of Oregon’s Crater Lake had fallen under the control of the Templar Order. Since both the past and current masters of this fortress were Psionic warlords, little to nothing about the place had changed, aside from the fact that a statue of the Angelis Ethereal had been removed from the inner sanctum. The Ascension Chamber was still the only way to get into this deep chamber, so when she stepped off the pad, the red-haired Templar known as Violet was very disoriented for a few seconds before running towards a platform on the far side of the room.

The place where Kon-Mon Dessurik’s sarcophagus had once been was now occupied by a ceremonial fire pit, where blue and purple Soulfire crackled away, casting the inner sanctum in an unnerving light. Standing around the supernatural fire were 6 Humans, who paused their conversation and allowed Violet to deliver her report:

“Sir, I just got confirmation from XCOM headquarters. The Eye of Aarran has fallen, the Hyperwave Network is down, and we’ve lost all contact with Jericho and her team!”

Geist, the enigmatic leader of the Templars, furrowed his brow and asked:

“What was the situation at Hiigara before we lost contact?”

“Hiigara was under heavy attack by the Beast! Agamemnon was there, along with a huge Beast fleet and the End of the Cycle!”

Geist turned his head to give a curious look at his guest. Akira Robinson nodded and smiled. She had just been vindicated.

“You see, Geist. Exactly as I predicted.”

To her left, three people stirred. They had believed Akira’s claims from the outset and were also quite happy to see that Geist was coming around:

Elena Dragunova, a member of the Reapers, clapped her hands loudly once and said:

“See, what did I tell you!?”

Ivan Kuznetsov, the father of a certain Stormbreaker, added his opinion as well:

“The girl knows what she’s doing, Templar. She’s more effective at predicting the future than Jericho or that Mihaka freak.”

Finally, Konstantine Volikov, the commander of the entire Reaper force, concluded with this:

“The most important detail is that she’s completely Human, Geist. So you know she’s more trustworthy than Jericho. We must listen to her.”

Next to Geist, Duane Gardner took a good long look at Akira.

“So that means,” Duane said slowly. “Everything you said is true?”

Akira nodded.

“Mira and Jericho have thrown history onto the wrong course.” Akira answered. “Their attempts to stop XCOM from making the mistakes of the last Cycle are going to create a very dark future for all of us, one in which the Gift is permanently extinguished.”

“Unacceptable!” Geist burst out. “The Gift is an integral part of our world! It belongs to the people of the Earth!”

“Exactly!” Akira said. “Jericho and Mira are willing to exchange the Gift of Psionics for the final victory! That would be the worst case scenario, one I’ve been trying to prevent for over a hundred Cycles!”

Geist unfolded his arms.

“Suffice to say that we’ve been convinced.” He said. “You will have the aid of the Templars when the time comes. What is it you need us to do?”

Akira turned towards Duane.

“When the time comes, and the Beast is approaching Earth, we must act. Duane Gardner, you must be the one to pilot the Trinity. You will be the one to end this war.”

Duane gulped; his hands were shaking.

“What do I have to do?”

“The Trinity will enhance and modify your Psionic powers.” Akira explained. “It will allow you to overpower Agamemnon and Astynome.”

“Then he can kill them?” Ivan asked.

“Killing the Father and Mother of the Beast won’t work.” Akira said. “There will still be tens of millions of infected ships out there in the Galaxy. It only takes one to infect and subvert the Earth. No, we need to decapitate the Beast in a way that ensures no infected remains to threaten us.”

Akira grabbed Duane’s shoulder and gave him an encouraging look.

“Duane. When you use the Trinity, you need to place both Agamemnon and Astynome under Mind Control.”

The inner sanctum was filled with an aura of silent trepidation. Akira continued.

“Those two ships are the heart and mind of the Beast, the very core of the Hive Mind that controls all infected ships. Once you seize control of the Beast Hive mind, you must order all infected ships to turn on one another. The enemy will wipe itself out to the last strike craft.”

Geist shook his head.

“That level of control would have to be projected across the entire Galaxy. It would require unparalleled levels of Psionic energy. How would mister Gardner be able to acquire, let alone harness that much energy?”

“Duane’s power.” Akira replied. “You’ve all seen it. Duane, you’ve seen how you grow more powerful in the presence of death, I’m sure.”

Duane shuddered.

“Yes, I know.” He replied, “But how would we take advantage of that?”

“Sacrifice the aliens.”

Akira’s chilling words hung in the air for a few moments.

“On the day of the final battle,” Akira explained in a low voice, “We need to ensure that as many aliens as possible die. The Hiigarans and Partogans have served their purpose in history. Let them do the bulk of the fighting in space, and let them die. Meanwhile on the ground, Volk and his Reapers will exterminate as much of the Extraterrestrial population as possible. Sectoids, Vipers, Mutons, Andromedons, Archons, the Faceless, even the Hybrids have to go. If its not Human, it needs to die during the final battle.”

Volk, Elena, and Ivan looked nothing less than enthusiastic with this plan.

“Lady, you just made a lifelong ally out of the Reapers.” Volk said. “And you said we’ve got nine months to prepare? I can have Reaper cells in position to strike in less than five!”

“And you’re sure we’ll be able to preserve the Gift this way?” Geist asked.

“Yes.” Akira replied. “This is the key to the perfect future: The Beast will be definitively defeated, and the Gift will continue to exist.”

“There’s just one thing,” Geist added, “What if AFUNE doesn’t go for Duane piloting the Trinity? What if they pick someone else, or if Jericho comes back?”

Akira shook her head.

“Duane will pilot the Trinity, end of story.” she said forcefully. “And we have to do whatever it takes to ensure that. Even if that means picking a fight with XCOM itself. Everyone understand? We’re doing this for the perfect future!”

“Yes.” Geist said. “For the perfect future.”

“A future where Earth is ruled by Humans and Humans alone!” Ivan cheered.

Duane hesitated. Akira put a hand on his shoulder.

“You can do this, Duane. Alohalani believed in you, Geist believes in you, and I do too. You can save Mankind.”

<== Previous Chapter (Green and Blue)

Next Chapter (The First Day) ==>​

 

[HistoryDude]

Wait, isn’t Akira Alohalani?

Also, I feel like Akira is using the humans. Why do so many aliens need to die? Also, who specifically Partogans and Hiigarans? Because she’s still pissed about the Levakian Uprising?

Also, what happens if these people find out Humans and Partogans are the same species?

Also, the Stormbreakers seem to be preventing the destruction of Psionics. So Akira’s lying to get the Templar Order on her side?

Does Akira actually want Duane to pilot the Trinity, or is this a just-in-case Jericho didn’t survive measure? Also, how has the plan changed now that Chihiro knows their plan? Or did Akira want that to happen?

 

[Macavity116]

Wait, isn’t Akira Alohalani?

Yes. In an exercise in dramatic irony, you, the readers, are fully aware of the extent of manipulation Akira has put Duane through. We know she was impersonating Alohalani. Duane does not.

Also, I feel like Akira is using the humans. Why do so many aliens need to die? Also, who specifically Partogans and Hiigarans? Because she’s still pissed about the Levakian Uprising?

Akira is definitely using these people. She needs a high death toll to fully exploit Duane's unique Psionic power: He becomes stronger and more powerful in the presence of death. Furthermore, Akira is far more comfortable sacrificing aliens than Humans. Remember, Akira's perfect future involves Earth surviving this conflict with as little damage as possible.

As for the Partogans and Hiigarans? Before the 2HW, they were the greatest military superpowers in the Galaxy. Their dominance over the Galactic Community can be easily compared to the Cold War between America and Russia in the last century. Akira clearly wants to neuter both of these empires, which would prevent them from having any influence or power over Earth after the war.

Also, what happens if these people find out Humans and Partogans are the same species?

The Templar Order's dogma of Psionics belonging to Humans might be extended to the Partogans, but that would cause them to part ways with Akira. The Reapers might just fracture into splinter groups at the news, depending on how willing their members are to accept that fact.

Also, the Stormbreakers seem to be preventing the destruction of Psionics. So Akira’s lying to get the Templar Order on her side?

Oh hell yes, she is lying. While some of the Stormbreakers are open to the idea of sacrificing the Gift, none of them are actively trying to do so. (at this time)

Does Akira actually want Duane to pilot the Trinity, or is this a just-in-case Jericho didn’t survive measure? Also, how has the plan changed now that Chihiro knows their plan? Or did Akira want that to happen?

No, this is Akira's endgame. She's no longer willing to let Jericho pilot the Trinity. Duane is far more likely to do what Akira wants.

And of course, there is the really big wrench in the works: Akira doesn't know that Chihiro was at the Progeny meeting on Oahu Island. The only way she could find out is if the Whisperers in the Void alerts Violet, and if Violet chooses to share that information with Akira. Violet's ability to trust Akira and speak freely with her depends entirely on what the Whisperers have told her about the Paradox.

 

[Macavity116]

Readers!

The past seven months have seen some incredible AAR's appear on the forums, and I want to give you a quick reminder that the H1 2020 AAR Choice Awards are almost over! Voting will end on Sunday, August 2 and every AAR posted or updated between January and June of this year is eligible. Be sure to cast your vote and give your favorite writers some support!

H1 (Q1+Q2) 2020 ACAs (Vote here!)

Need some Stellaris AARs to vote for? Allow me to recommend:

1. Songs of the Saiiban- A Poetic AAR by @Chilango2
2. Pax Astra - A Stellaris AAR by @Rawghi
3. No Love, No Comfort - A Stellaris Fanfiction by @Methone
4. Stardancers - A Federations AAR by @RossN

 

[Methone]

Readers!

The past seven months have seen some incredible AAR's appear on the forums, and I want to give you a quick reminder that the H1 2020 AAR Choice Awards are almost over! Voting will end on Sunday, August 2 and every AAR posted or updated between January and June of this year is eligible. Be sure to cast your vote and give your favorite writers some support!

H1 (Q1+Q2) 2020 ACAs (Vote here!)

Need some Stellaris AARs to vote for? Allow me to recommend:

1. Songs of the Saiiban- A Poetic AAR by @Chilango2
2. Pax Astra - A Stellaris AAR by @Rawghi
3. No Love, No Comfort - A Stellaris Fanfiction by @Methone
4. Stardancers - A Federations AAR by @RossN

Hey, thanks for the plug! But I think your link to No Love, No Comfort is broken?

 

[Macavity116]

Hey, thanks for the plug! But I think your link to No Love, No Comfort is broken?

Found and fixed, thanks for letting me know!

 

[Chilango2]

Need some Stellaris AARs to vote for? Allow me to recommend:

Deeply appreciate the shoutout, you were already near the top of my "read when I have time" list, but you're certainly encouraging me to do so sooner rather than later.

 

[Macavity116]

Well readers, we've reached the final War Story before the beginning of the final act. Those of you who have been reading my stories since After Everything, you know the drill. I'm going to stop posting for a short while and write the ending. (Well, honestly, I've already started writing the ending, so hopefully you won't have to wait that long.)

I know this chapter is very short in comparison to what I usually write, and that there's going to be a substantial break before the finale begins. So to make it up to you all, I've added something extra at the bottom of the post. It's a series of hints about where Act Four is heading. Guessing and speculation are encouraged.

<== Previous Chapter (Parting of the Ways)

Next Chapter (Return of the Paradox) ==>​

The Second Hyperspace War: Stories from the Front
#6: The First Day​

September 11, 2015
The Royal Library, Partoga City, Partogan-Levakian Commonwealth


In the five hundred years since its construction, Partoga City had become the core of an empire that spanned nearly a quarter of the Galaxy. Starships of varying size and shape filled the skies above while the streets below were choked with an equally diverse number of people. Blorg merchants haggled with Hiigaran tourists while local Partogans and Levakians went about their daily business. Assurian diplomats pushed their way through the crowds, moving away from the Palace and towards their nearby embassy. Micore droids, repainted with the colors of the Partogan Green Guard, stood sentry over the street corners, enforcing the laws of the Commonwealth in their own unique way.

But in this grand metropolis, there is one place that stands out more than any other. Its ornate windows reflect the sunlight more beautifully than the glass façade of Mihaka Tower. The pre-volcano architecture of its foundations predates both the National Assembly Building and the Royal Palace itself. The gardens that surround the structure on all sides make up one of the most relaxing and welcoming national parks in the entire Galaxy. In the covered courtyard, right in the center of the garden, there is a throne made from silver and decorated with emeralds. It is here that new rulers of this world are enthroned, although no such ceremony had occurred here in almost a century.

This wondrous place is the Partogan Royal Library.

Following behind their teacher, an elderly Levakian female, thirty children chattered and gossiped excitedly to one another as they were led inside. The old Lioness was patient with her class, as such a diverse group of students needed an extra level of care. Two young Kelt, no bigger than housecats, had to ride on the shoulders of their friends to avoid being trampled underfoot while the oldest student, a Taiidani boy, stood head and shoulders above the class, leering at all around him and showing off his newly grown tusks.

Finally, the class reached their destination, a reading room designed for young adults. Many of the students looked around, confused. A Hiigaran boy gently grabbed his teacher's tail and asked if she’d brought them to the wrong room. The teacher assured him that this was indeed the correct place, and she encouraged the class to sit down in front of a large rocking chair that had been set up next to a fireplace, next to a padded platform designed for a feline occupant. The chair itself was being watched over by two young men, one Partogan and one Assurian, who were both wearing the uniform of Partogan Acolytes. (Debtors who had sold themselves into slavery to escape or absolve their financial obligations) The Assurian Acolyte was holding a small book. The cover said: “I survived the Wars of the Famine; written by Toa Enoka Ihaka”

The class situated themselves on the floor, and students found comfort in their Levakian classmates. The young lions and lionesses laid on their sides, allowing their reptilian classmates a warm space to rest. Partogan, Hiigaran, and Assurian girls absentmindedly brushed their classmate’s fur and scratched their ears, causing the Levakian students to start purring while the Partogan Acolyte spoke to them:

“At her Majesty’s request, I shall truncate her introduction: Presenting the legitimate elected successor to Whetu Kealoha, her Royal Majesty Kendra, Queen of the Commonwealth.”

The students were caught completely off-guard by the sudden appearance of the Queen! The elderly ruler of Partoga had been patiently standing behind the class, having a whispered chat with their teacher. Together, the old Partogan and old Levakian stepped around the gathered children and took their respective seats. The Acolyte passed the small book into the teacher’s paws before the Queen addressed the class.

“Good morning, little ones.” Queen Kendra’s voice had a worn out, tired tone to it, yet she still seemed warm and friendly. “I’ve been told that you all received high scores for a history project recently.”

Thirty little faces filled with pride and satisfaction. A Vanian fledgling, too young to fly on her own but otherwise self-sufficient, spoke for the class:

“We had to do a group project on the Wars of the Famine!” the fledgling bragged. “We made a diorama of Queen Whetu and her team camped out on the Unnamed Mountain!”

“Wonderful!” Kendra declared. “I’m so happy to know that your young minds are so focused on learning from our history. If you follow the examples laid forth by the Queens of our past, you will never take our great Commonwealth astray. I want to help you as well.”

Kendra gestured to the class’s teacher.

“This book was written by Queen Whetu’s closest friend after the Wars of the Famine.” Kendra said. “It may be the most definitive account of her life ever created. Please pay close attention, you may learn something valuable.”

The old lioness opened the book and began to read aloud to her class while the Queen looked on in an approving way. For the next twenty minutes or so, things proceeded smoothly. The teacher told her students the story of how Toa Enoka had been Whetu’s ex-lover, how he had briefly been her enemy at the start of the conflict, and concluded with the tale of how their second alliance had been forged in battle against a common enemy.

Of course, Kendra and this class were not alone in the library. Other people began to gather around to watch, kept at a reasonable distance by Green Guards. A pair of news reporters with nothing better to do decided to set up a camera tripod and record the history class. Kendra nodded at the growing crowd of spectators in acknowledgement and held a finger to her lips, encouraging silence so that the class would go undisturbed.

Pausing only to drink water and answer the occasional question from her students, the Levakian teacher pressed on, reading aloud until she reached the part of the story in which Whetu and Toa Enoka confronted the Snowskin defector. While the teacher gave her students a description of the mysterious pale-skinned girl who had betrayed her own kind to help the Partogans, a man wearing a military uniform pushed his way through the crowd. Looking around at the newcomer, Kendra recognized this man as Kauri Ranginui, a member of her own extended family and a high-ranking general in the Commonwealth Green Guard.

Disregarding the news reporters, General Ranginui approached Queen Kendra from the side and gently whispered in her ear:

“Alien vessels have breached our Galaxy. The death toll is catastrophic. We are at war!”

The general withdrew quickly and backed away, allowing Kendra to do with the information what she wished. Several students had stopped paying attention their teacher and were now watching the Queen, their expressions ranging anywhere between nervous concern and genuine alarm.

Kendra put on a brave face and smiled at the children. She stayed put throughout the rest of the reading, allowing the teacher to finish at her own pace. Kendra realized that the world everyone had known had just ended, but she decided to let these youngsters enjoy just a few more moments of peace and calm before the storm began. The Queen herself, though, was not at peace. The words of the old story just seemed to bounce off her now. Her mind, like an old reliable machine, was slowly turning into high gear. Plans were being formulated, actions considered, contingencies made.

The end of history had finally come. Now it was time to guarantee there would be a future.

…

The same moment
The Breach Point, Blorg Commonality, Galactic Rim


“All strike wings, report in!”

A flotilla of Partogan, Levakian, Micore, Amadii, Vanian, and Assurian warships emerged from Hyperspace and started to re-form their battle line. Behind them, a planet-sized Quantum Wavefront swept backwards to reveal an utterly colossal vessel. The Fathership of the Beast began to move slowly but inexorably away from the Galactic Rim and into the Outer Limb itself. The defending ships re-formed and came back for another attack! Over the airwaves, the fleet commander gave desperate orders!

“Task Force Kiwa! Cut across the axis and draw their fire forward! TF Takea, stay back and cover with long range weapons!”

A line of Levakian and Amadii frigates pealed away from the main group and started to close with the Fathership! As soon as they got close enough to fire their main weapons, a bright red particle beam jumped forward from the enemy vessel and collided with one of the frigates! The beam started jumping from ship to ship, striking every vessel in the strike force in turn! Each vessel lost power and started spinning out of control as flesh and muscle began to grow in patches along the hull! The comm net filled with screams of agony as the crews of the newly subverted ships fell victim to the infection!

“We have an intruder alert on all decks! Something’s come aboard!”

“There’s something loose on our ship! It’s killing us!”

“Controls locked up! Crew dying!”

“It’s coming through the hull! Help us! HELP US!!”

One by one, the subverted frigates began to fire up their engines and rejoin the battle, turning their weapons against their own fleet!

“Woah, woah, woah!!” Shouted a Vanian commander. “You guys are shooting friendlies! Green on green!”

“Those ships aren’t friendly anymore!” A Levakian officer called out to the fleet. “All ships, fire on any vessel with low or nonexistent life signs!”

Amidst the chaos, the virus began to spread unchecked. Either by infection beam or Ramming Frigate, the plague took the Triple Alliance fleet by storm, and soon, the attacking Beast force came to outnumber the defending fleet. Seizing the initiative, the Beast surged forward, leaving the security of its beachhead and launching its invasion of the Galaxy.

…

The Same Moment
Kauai Island, Hawaii, Pacific Ocean


The Stormbreakers had run out of time.

Kotori Sato fell to her knees and screamed! Isis Dekker and Holly Smith tried to pull her along a few more feet, but the writing was on the wall. Kotori couldn’t go any farther. It was now or never.

“Trojan!” Holly shouted! “We’re done, mate!”

“This baby’s gonna happen right now!” Isis yelled.

At the head of the formation, Blake Robinson, Chihiro Tachibana, and Soylent Green frantically looked around for options. Chihiro tapped her boyfriend on the shoulder and pointed towards an open grassy area.

“There!” She said. “That building!”

“It’s a mausoleum!” Blake confirmed. “Might as well be bulletproof in there! Let’s go!”

Kotori wailed and cried as her comrades dragged her along. It felt as though her insides were about to split apart! She could barely hear the sound of gunfire as she was dragged into the entryway to the local graveyard. A sign next to the gate said:

Kauai Veteran’s Cemetery

Here rests the men and women of the Pacific who laid down their lives in the Third World War, fighting to the very end for the freedom of our friends, family, and community.

(December 7, 2005 to December 22, 2012)​

While Blake and Chihiro held off the enemy, Isis escorted Kotori into the Mausoleum. In a very unceremonious manner, the German engineer knocked the casket of a Hawaiian war hero to the floor and made a space for Kotori to lie down and deliver her baby. Outside, Blake, Chihiro, Soylent, Holly, and Hal waged a desperate defensive action against the enemy, buying as much time as possible so that Kotori could do what needed to be done.

The process took almost thirty minutes. Thirty terrifying minutes punctuated by near-constant gunfire and explosions echoing into the building. Each concussive blast made the walls shake and dust fall from the ceiling! A fire started on the southern façade where most of the fighting was taking place, and Isis ran over to stomp it out with her foot before rushing back to Kotori’s side!

Her screams and shrieks drowned out by the noise of battle; Kotori’s daughter entered a world of chaos! Double and triple checking to make sure she’d done everything right; Isis was so busy making sure the birth had gone smoothly that she was struck dumb when Kotori suddenly shouted:

“Behind you!”

With what little strength she had left, Kotori reached forward and grabbed Isis’ shotgun! She racked the weapon once, took aim just to the right of Isis, and pulled the trigger! A Sectoid tumbled backwards, head over heels, and fell out the doorway it had entered through. Holly Smith entered a moment later.

“We can’t hold! We’ve gotta get out of here!” Holly said. “Sato, can you…”

Holly’s voice died in her throat as she saw the screaming child nestled in her mother’s arms. Kotori, Isis, and Holly all looked at one another. In a brief but silent conversation, the question “Can Kotori walk?” had been answered. All three women nodded grimly as a desperate plan was agreed on.

“Kate goes with you.” Kotori held her daughter out to Isis.

Blinking back tears, Isis gingerly took the newborn child and repeated:

“Kate?”

“Kate Asuna Ray.” Kotori invoked the names of a close friend, a trusted comrade, and a lost lover respectively; none of whom had lived to see this day.

Isis decided to leave her shotgun and ammunition behind. She met Blake Robinson at the door of the Mausoleum. They shared no words, only a grim unspoken understanding. Isis clutched Kate close to her chest and began to run, while behind her, Blake shouted to his team:

“There ain’t no cavalry coming for us! Defend this position!”

Run.

Don’t look back. Just run.

Do not look back! Keep running!

Isis scrambled out of the graveyard and into the treeline, distantly aware of plasma bolts flying over her head as she fled! Ignoring the onslaught, pushing past the thick leaves and twisted branches, Isis and the girl who would become Jericho vanished into the Hawaiian wilderness.

Back at the graveyard, a loud whistling noise was the only warning the Stormbreakers got of their impending doom! Large canisters cratered into the ground! As the dirt and debris settled, the canisters opened up and began to spew a noxious green fog around the battlefield.

“Gas! Gas! Gas!” Hal shouted.

On his words, the team tried to don their gas masks and keep fighting, but it was too late. The fumes enveloped the group of fighters! Realizing what was about to happen, Blake ordered his team to clear the toxin area!

“Get to fresh air!” he choked. “Keep moving, we can’t die here!”

Blake and the rest of the team broke cover and started to run for a nearby hill, but they only made it about fifty yards. Chihiro collapsed first. Then one by one, all of the remaining Stormbreakers ran themselves to exhaustion and fell unconscious.

Sensing victory at last, an Ethereal descended onto the battlefield. The powerful creature followed the aura of Psionic energy in the air, gliding effortlessly through the air to its prize. The Ethereal approached the doorway of the Mausoleum, anticipating the capture of a powerful Psionic Human.

CRACK!

The Ethereal stumbled backwards as a small caliber bullet struck squarely in the center of its helmet! Enraged, the alien leader refocused its energies and saw where the attack had come from…

Curled up in the far inside corner was Kotori Sato! She was unable to stand, bloody, and exhausted, but far from defeated. Around her lay a cache of weapons, ranging from assault rifles to pistols and hand grenades. Rounding out the assembly was the M249 light machine gun which had, up until a moment ago, been used by Holly Smith.

“Not my daughter!” Kotori shouted at the alien. “NOT MY DAUGHTER!!”

Kotori dropped her pistol and readied her machine gun. She knew that every moment she lived and breathed, every second she put up a fight, would be another moment for Isis to escape with Kate.

Can’t stop the fighting. Kotori told herself. Not now. Not ever.

Bullets. Fire. Grenades. Explosions.

And finally… death.

…

The last stand of Kotori Sato was but a brief moment in this story. It was over in less time than it will take the reader to reach the bottom of this page. Yet her actions guaranteed the survival of her child, just as she thought they would. A child who would go on to become, with some reluctance, the central figure around whom this entire story turns. Kotori was the most consequential mother who ever lived, and she only knew her child for a matter of minutes.

Untold thousands fell in battle on this day all over the Galaxy. It was the beginning of a terrible conflict, and the only one with the power to end it would not be of fighting age for a very, very long time.

One would be forgiven for believing that a story with such a dark beginning can only end in similar darkness. But this Galaxy is filled with millions upon billions of stars.

There will always be light somewhere.

<== Previous Chapter (Parting of the Ways)

Next Chapter (Return of the Paradox) ==>​

======

Spoiler: What Lies Ahead

Did you know? When I'm writing these stories, a chapter's name will change three or four times. Once the act begins, I consider the chapter names to be "locked in" and unchangeable.

So, for your consideration, here are the current placeholder names for all chapters of Act Four: The War in Heaven, along with a very brief hint for each one:

• Chapter 40: Fury of the Blue Dragon
  • What did Chihiro do after Blake fell?
• Chapter 41: Jericho vs Akira
  • Peace is no longer an option.
• Chapter 42: Secrets and Shadows
  • There's a future in the past.
• Chapter 43: Neptune
  • It's Humanity's time for glory!
• Chapter 44: First Love, Worst Enemy
  • Jericho reaches a point of no return.
• Chapter 45: United We Stand
  • "I need time, as much as you can get me!"
• Chapter 46: Stop the Clock
  • Defend the Time Core!
• Chapter 47: Apotheosis
  • This Galaxy is bright and full of wonders... even if some are short-lived.

The above chapter names are placeholders and will almost certainly change before Act 4 gets started.

Happy speculating, and I hope you'll enjoy the grand finale when the time comes!

 

[HistoryDude]

There’s always hope. Well... almost always.

That was one consequential day.

The end of history is here. Will it be followed by the beginning of eternity?

Spoiler

The Time Core will be attacked? Really they should’ve just destroyed it. Also, apotheosis - the term used for a mortal becoming a god. But who’s apotheosis will it be? Jericho’s? Or, however unlikely, Akira’s?

Astynome remains the weakest link. Destroy her, and half the Beast is incapacitated. Mind control her to attack Agamemnon, and the Beast is divided. And united we stand, but divided we fall... Divida et Impera - Divide and Conquer...

 

[volksmarschall]

Will there always be light though? Sometimes, the darkness is beautiful!

 

[Macavity116]

On the one hand, Levakians are supposed to be lions, but after seeing the new Star Trek show, I want to extend the title "Honorary Levakian" to this surprisingly badass character!

I freakin' love Star Trek!

Anyway, back to writing.

 

[Macavity116]

The end of history is here. Will it be followed by the beginning of eternity?

It is indeed, friend. But considering what Akira was doing with the Time Core, it might be more apt to ask: Will it be followed by the end of eternity?

Will there always be light though? Sometimes, the darkness is beautiful!

It does have its moments.

apotheosis - the term used for a mortal becoming a god. But who’s apotheosis will it be? Jericho’s? Or, however unlikely, Akira’s?

There's no coincidence here. All three games this story is based on contain references to the idea of deification:

Homeworld Series: In the final missions of Homeworld2, Protagonist Karan Sjet and antagonist Makaan fight for control of the Core Trinity, a set of three Progenitor Hyperspace Cores. An ancient prophecy states that whoever succeeds in uniting the Core Trinity will become the Sajuuk-Khar, and awaken the great Creator God. When Karan succeeds, she doesn't become a god, but the narration implies the Galactic Community sees her as one from then on.

XCOM Series: During the final mission of Enemy Unknown, the player must select one of their own soldiers to become "The Volunteer," a Psionic supersoldier who is able to use the Ethereal Device. When the Ethereal Temple Ship starts to collapse into a black hole, the Volunteer sacrifices him or herself to save the Earth and is lost. However, Jake Solomon (the mastermind behind the modern XCOM games) has made a public statement saying this:

"I don't think I've ever said this before, but your ultimate psi soldier in XCOM, 'The Volunteer,' does NOT die at the end of the game." He points out that in the final cutscene, the Volunteer actually vanishes in a flash just before the explosion.

Furthermore, in the expansion pack Enemy Within: If the player manages to defeat the transhumanist society known as EXALT, they will earn the achievement "Apotheosis Denied."

Stellaris: Psionic empires exploring the Shroud can trigger an event chain called "The Chosen One" in which a leader will become an immortal Psychic with immense power. Should the player choose, this leader can be elevated to the status and title of "God-Emperor" and become the ruler of a newly established Celestial Empire.

Like I said. No coincidence. Someone's getting deified before this story is over. The question is, to what extent?

The final Act will start in five days.​

 

[Macavity116]

Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race,
Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours,
Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace;
And glut thy self with what thy womb devours,
Which is no more then what is false and vain,
And meerly mortal dross;

So little is our loss,
So little is thy gain.

For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb'd,
And last of all, thy greedy self consum'd,
Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss
With an individual kiss;

And Joy shall overtake us as a flood,
When everything that is sincerely good and perfectly divine,
With Truth, and Peace, and Love shall ever shine
About the supreme Throne Of him,
t'whose happy-making sight alone,
When once our heav'nly-guided soul shall clime,

Then all this Earthy grosnes quit,
Attir'd with Stars,
we shall forever sit,

Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee O Time.

-John Milton

Links to new chapters will be added on the day they are posted:

======
The Stormbreakers: A Stellaris Story - The Final Act

​

• Chapter 40: Return of the Paradox​
• Chapter 41: Jericho versus Akira​
• Chapter 42: All Our Sins Remembered​
• Chapter 43: The Queen's Gambit​
• Chapter 44: Eye of the Storm​
• Chapter 45: Our Last Stand​
• Chapter 46: Time Trap​
• Chapter 47: Apotheosis​

• Epilogue: History Forgets the Details​

 

[HistoryDude]

What Milton poem is that? Paradise Lost?

 

[Macavity116]

What Milton poem is that? Paradise Lost?

It's called "On Time." I'm not sure when it was written.

<== Previous Chapter (The First Day)

Next Chapter (Jericho versus Akira) ==>​

Chapter Forty
Return of the Paradox

​

An unknown Reaper (Believed to be Elena Dragunova by some) is seen on her way to participate in the Battle of Nagasaki.

Wednesday, August 6, 2036 – 5:16pm
XCOM Headquarters, Nagasaki, Kyushu Island


Chihiro was in shock.

Her arms just seemed to go through the motions on their own as she pulled Sophie Ackermann up and back to safety. With one final effort, she and Sophie pulled Sophia Kuznetsova all the way back onto the balcony and out of danger. Sophia gasped as she collapsed into her rescuer’s arms. Now that the crisis had passed, Chihiro’s heartbeat should have slowed down, but it only quickened as she looked over the ledge and gazed at the grassy lawn below.

Blake Robinson wasn’t moving. He looked like a broken toy that some forgetful child had left behind in the grass. Medics had already surrounded the spot where he had fallen, but the voices that carried up to Chihiro’s ears did not belong to the men and women at ground level… instead, two voices echoed up the stairwell behind her:

“Akira! What happened to you!? Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Right. Did you do what you needed to do?”

“Yeah. Blake and the others should be coming down the stairs any minute now, we should get out of here.”

Chihiro’s eyes flickered back to Blake’s broken body on the ground, then to the stairwell.

Akira.

She had known Sophia was going to try to jump.

She had forced Chihiro and her companions onto a certain path, one that had ended with Blake falling over one hundred feet, and now Chihiro wasn’t even sure if he was alive.

Akira was responsible for this.

A fire seemed to erupt in the deepest part of Chihiro’s soul. It burned and grew out of control until all she could feel was intense fury. Akira had known about all of this. She had sent her own father to his death!

Chihiro thundered down the stairs, Soulfire sparkling in both of her hands! She hit the third-floor landing and screamed:

“AKIRA!”

The Paradox was still here. She was being helped to her feet by two Templars: Duane Gardner and Violet. Duane’s appearance had changed significantly since the last time Chihiro had seen him on Oahu island. His head was completely shaven, and a strange array of cybernetic implants now decorated the top and backside of his skull. Violet had gone through some changes too. Her eyes were bloodshot and there were now baggy wrinkles underneath her eyelids. Her whole body seemed to be jittery, as though she was unable to hold still.

Between the two Templars, Akira wiped the blood from her mouth and said:

“Wait… where’s Blake and the others?”

“Don’t you lie to me!!” Chihiro shrieked. “You knew he was gonna fall!”

Chihiro raised one arm to strike! Akira’s companions stepped back. The Paradox herself hesitated; a look of pure shock etched onto her face.

“NO!” Akira gasped. “He wasn’t supposed to-”

“LOOK OUT!” Violet shouted.

Akira was shoved out of the way just before Chihiro launched a handful of Soulfire towards Akira! Violet blocked the first blow only to be caught off guard by a second strike! The bolt of lightning jumped from Chihiro’s hand and blew out every window in the building before striking Violet squarely in the chest!

“I just got my husband back!!” Chihiro was spitting Soulfire as she screamed! “You killed him! I’LL KILL YOU!”

Akira, Duane, and Violet all retreated! A column of purple light shot down from the ceiling and enveloped them! With a loud rushing noise, three perplexed-looking XCOM soldiers rematerialized as the light faded. Akira and her friends had used a Psionic Inversion to trade places with their enemies! Chihiro bellowed with rage and ran to a nearby window!

Outside, confusion reigned! Akira, Duane, and Violet had rematerialized in the middle of the crowd of soldiers who were responding to Blake’s fall from the tower. They had turned around and were now sprinting towards the causeway that connected Nagasaki Airport to the mainland!

“STOP THEM!!” Chihiro screamed and pointed towards the fleeing Templars!

Then she reached out with her mind and found an XCOM soldier she knew well. Akaya Ogawa only had a few milliseconds to realize what was happening before she was enveloped in a swirling storm of Psionic energy! Chihiro completed the Psionic Exchange, causing Akaya to rematerialize inside of the air traffic control tower, while Chihiro reappeared on the ground where Akaya had just been! Taking only a moment to regain her bearings, Chihiro saw Akira and her friends and started to give chase!

Chihiro didn’t have a plan. The only thoughts in her mind were an overwhelming desire to catch Akira and inflict unspeakable violence upon her. She conjured up a Psionic Lance in one hand and hurled it towards Akira, only for Violet to alert her once more! Akira dodged the incoming Lance and it dissipated harmlessly on the pavement. The Paradox looked over her shoulder, pointed at Duane, and yelled:

“Aw, screw it! We’re just gonna do it now! Get to the other side and give the go-signal!”

Duane and Violet continued to sprint across the bridge, whilst Chihiro and Akira had come to a stop roughly halfway between the mainland and Nagasaki Airport. Akira took another step backwards, clearly looking for a way to disengage, but Chihiro only sought to attack! She launched a telekinetic strike towards Akira, tearing up huge chunks of asphalt and throwing them towards the rogue time-traveler!

Akira sidestepped the attack and raised a telekinetic shield around herself, refusing to return the favor.

“You coward!” Chihiro screamed! “Fight back! FIGHT BACK!”

Chihiro pummeled Akira’s defenses, striking with Psionic Volts and Lances! The pavement under their feet grew hot and started to melt! Multiple bolts of lightning rained down on Akira, causing her shield to waver as Chihiro closed the distance. Akira pleaded with Chihiro, trying to make her voice heard!

“Mom, I swear I didn’t mean for Dad to get hurt!”

“You LIAR!!” Blue and purple flames escaped Chihiro’s mouth! “Blake was right about you the whole time; we should have killed you from the start!!”

Akira’s eyes went wide as she realized that the time for talk had passed, and that for the first time, her mother was beyond any words. Chihiro was going to attack, and she was aiming to strike a lethal blow! Akira shouted, not at Chihiro, but to her friends:

“HEY GARDNER! GET THIS THING STARTED! SOMETIME TODAY WOULD BE NICE!!”

…

The Same Moment
XCOM Mission Control, Nagasaki, Kyushu Island


There were too many people talking at once. Commander Bradford had to raise his voice to be heard above the din:

“SILENCE IN THE WAR ROOM!!”

Everybody fell silent.

“Now, tell me what’s going on.” Bradford instructed his subordinates. “One at a time.”

Central Officer Holly Smith, a former member of Stormbreaker Squad, stepped forward.

“Sir, about ten minutes ago, Corporal Sophia Kuznetsova attempted suicide by jumping from the air traffic control tower. Three soldiers pulled her down, but one of them did go over the side.”

“Do we know who it was?” Bradford asked.

“It was definitely a member of Stormbreaker Squad who fell.” Holly answered. “But there’s so much going on outside it’s hard to tell what’s happening.”

Bradford rounded on Chief Engineer Lily Shen.

“And what the hell were you yakking about!?” He asked.

“Commander, all of our short and long-range communication systems just went down.” Shen replied. “We’re completely out of contact with everyone, the Triple Alliance, AFUNE… hell, we can’t even call the mainland!”

While Shen was talking, another member of the command staff had been pushing his way past her, trying to get Bradford’s attention. The Commander snapped at him:

“What do you want!?”

“Sir!” The man said: “Internal systems are shutting down all over HQ! My men are detecting movement along the outer perimeter and multiple sensors have been tripped! Someone’s forcing their way into the base!”

Bradford’s face went pale. He seized the intercom microphone on the desk next to him. While he waited for the public address system to activate, Braford cursed aloud:

“There’s no way in Hell I’m going to lose our HQ again!”

Chief Shen yelled over Bradford’s shoulder:

“Do we know who it is? Tygan? Anything?”

On the far end of the mission control room, Chief Scientist Richard Tygan removed his headset and pointed to the computer screen in front of him.

“Our perimeter sensors are detecting intense levels of Psionic energy, accompanied by trace amounts of high-yield plastic explosives!”

“Templars!” Holly gasped. “Templars and Reapers!”

“Oh, shit! We’re about to get our teeth kicked in!” Shen said. “Does anyone know where Jericho is?”

“I believe she’s meeting with the Vanian Conclave of Telepaths right now.” Tygan answered.

While they were talking, Commander Bradford’s voice rang out over every speaker and megaphone in Nagasaki Airport:

“Attention all soldiers! Hostile forces have infiltrated XCOM Headquarters and are moving in with reinforcements! This is a call to general quarters! All personnel, prepare stations to combat! XCOM HQ is under attack! This is not a drill!”

…

A team of UN Army soldiers are killed by Reaper ambush during the Battle of Nagasaki, one of the final engagements of the Second Hyperspace War.

Outside, it was the enemy who struck the first blow.

Sniper fire cracked and snapped through the chilly evening air as Reaper forces engaged the soldiers of XCOM from long range! A World-War-Three-era helicopter landed at the far end of the runway for only a brief moment, dropping off six Reapers before it lifted off into the night sky and vanished. Two uncovered trucks barreled down the bridge at full speed! Akira sensed her allies approaching and lunged out of the way, while Chihiro resorted to shielding herself and standing to one side!

As the second truck raced by, Chihiro got a brief moment of eye contact with one of the soldiers riding in the back. Sophia Kuznetsova’s father, Ivan, saw Chihiro and started to raise his pistol, taking aim at her! Before he could pull the trigger, the truck turned hard and barreled into the main complex of Nagasaki Airport to a fanfare of gunfire!

Chihiro felt a buildup of static electricity behind her and lunged forward, dodging a Psionic attack by mere millimeters!

Akira slashed at the air as she ran past Chihiro, placing a telekinetic shield between Chihiro and XCOM HQ.

“Stay here until we’re done!” Akira shouted as she tried to run and rejoin her allies, but she was still badly injured from her run-in with Blake. The best Akira could do was a light jog.

Chihiro threw herself against the invisible barrier while the Paradox vanished into a rapidly growing column of smoke. The telekinetic barrier held firm, unyielding. Frustrated, Chihiro screamed! A loud explosion lit up the night and one of the hangar bays on the far end of the airport collapsed in a shower of sparks and flame! A loud pop made her ears ring as a sniper’s bullet sailed about ten feet above Chihiro’s head!

The cracking of rifle fire seemed to clear Chihiro’s mind, refocus her thoughts. She had no idea if Blake was alive, and in all likelihood, she really had lost him this time. But… there was something else to think about:

Himawari was in there!

Before now, Chihiro’s fury was uncontrolled and unfocused. But now, there was only one thought coursing through her mind, one impulse. Akira may have just caused Blake’s death. That was more than enough motivation to kill her… but now… Akira had endangered Himawari.

All bets were off.

Chihiro firmly pressed her right hand against the invisible barrier. Focusing her power onto the barrier with laser focus, Chihiro caused the telekinetic shield to waver for a moment… then it shattered! Chihiro felt the briefest flash of a Neural Feedback, manifesting as a sharp pang in the back of her skull, but pressed on anyway. She ran full-tilt back toward the base of the ATC tower.

Duane Gardner (left) in combat during the Battle of Nagasaki. The unidentified UN Army soldier (right) was not found afterwards and is presumed to have been killed.

It was chaos. The soldiers who had responded to Sophia’s attempted suicide were mostly unarmed and completely unprepared for a fight of any kind. A mixed force of Reapers and Templars were plowing a path of death and destruction right past the tower and were heading towards the airport terminal! A small number of Volunteer Defense Force soldiers were putting up a last-ditch defense, but were being cut down in droves, either by the pinpoint sniper fire of the Reapers or by the Shard Blades of the Templars.

At the base of the tower, Chihiro spotted a semitransparent purple hemisphere. Someone had thrown up a Psionic shield around the place where Blake had fallen! Inside, she could see Makara Ranginui, Sophie Ackermann, Sophia Kuznetsova, and four other people, including someone who had been secured on a medical stretcher. While Makara maintained the shield with one hand, she held Himawari Robinson tightly in the other.

Chihiro turned her whole body and started to run straight through the middle of the enemy force to reach her comrades. She made it about thirty feet before she was spotted by a Templar.

“Hey!” A male voice yelled behind Chihiro. “She’s not one of us!”

Chihiro could sense several weapons being aimed at her back. Without even stopping to look around, she swept one arm through the air and felt (with some satisfaction) a series of small shockwaves as laser, gauss, and plasma rifles exploded in their owner’s hands, causing mass confusion in the enemy ranks!

Makara took down her shield, allowing Chihiro to grab Himawari. The baby cried and screamed as loudly as she could, plainly terrified of the nightmarish scene around her.

“Thank you!” Chihiro gasped. “Thank you so much for taking care of her.”

“No worries.” Makara replied before throwing herself into the fight!

Sophie grabbed Chihiro’s shoulder and yelled:

“Blake’s alive! We need to get him to the Avenger!”

A wave of relief swept over Chihiro, followed closely by newfound adrenaline as the chatter of machine gun fire sounded nearby. Sophia put her hands to her ears and shrieked:

“What the hell is going on!?”

“Akira let them in!” Chihiro replied. “No idea why!”

Sophie grabbed the head-end of the stretcher and started to lift while Sophia grabbed the other end. Blake let out a pained moan and gurgled blood.

“Cover us!” Sophie said. “We’re gonna dash for the Avenger!”

Chihiro turned around to face the enemy again. The Reapers and Templars were ignoring her, instead choosing to focus on Makara Ranginui, who had stolen a laser rifle from a Reaper and was fighting with it and her Gift at the same time. Even so, Chihiro’s options were limited. She needed to carry Himawari in one arm. Scanning the battleground, Chihiro found a weak-willed Reaper. With the smallest wave of her free hand, Chihiro placed the man under Mind Control. The Reaper didn’t know he’d been turned until he had already shot two of his comrades in the back, and had been shot in return by his own squadmates.

Chihiro, Sophie, and Sophia ran as best they could away from the main battle, passing more and more AFUNE and Triple Alliance soldiers heading in the opposite direction. Matthew Hawkins and several members of Stormbreaker Squad emerged from the Armory just as the trio was passing its doorway. The sound of Himawari’s crying caught their attention.

“Where are you going?” Yutaka Yamamoto asked.

“Taking Trojan to the Avenger!” Sophie replied. “He’s hurt! We’ve gotta get him to the Hypervital Module!”

“You guys are gonna need help!” Kathleen Walsh raised her voice. “There’s Reapers on the runway near the ship! Oi, Blue Dragon! You’ll need this!”

Kathleen tossed the Shadowkeeper towards Chihiro, who caught her old pistol in one hand. The sudden movement frightened Himawari, and the baby wrapped her arms tightly around her mother’s shoulders.

“Was kinda hoping for my sword.” Chihiro admitted. “Hachiman would love this.”

“The Katana’s under lock and key in some secret location.” Isis Dekker said. “It would be bad if…”

Isis trailed off. She, along with most of the squad, had just had the same thought. Matthew took action:

“Soylent, Avenger, Nix! Stay with Blue Dragon. Everyone else, we’re going to find Bradford and tell him we know what the enemy’s looking for!”

…

Duane Gardner. During the final days of the Second Hyperspace War, this member of the Templar Order rose to prominence following his successful creation and development of a religious following centered around Jericho, which eventually became a forerunner to the organization now known as "The Progeny."

The fighting on the western side of the airport was somehow worse than over by the ATC tower. The mixed force of Templars and Reapers had somehow gained a foothold near the fire station and fortified it. This made for one hell of a problem, because in order to reach the Avenger, Chihiro and her companions would have to run across nearly seven hundred feet of open tarmac, completely exposed to enemy weapons fire the whole time.

“Right, here’s the plan.” Isis said. “Soylent and I will get their attention and draw fire. Blue Dragon, shield Icarus and Antigone, keep them protected all the way to the Avenger. Nix, you run interference. Make those bastards put their heads down!”

“On it!” Kathleen replied.

Chihiro took advantage of the short break to create an improvised harness from a pair of old rifle straps, making it just a little easier to carry Himawari. Then she touched Sophia and Sophie on the shoulder in turn and asked:

“You ready?”

Both women nodded. Isis pointed at the enemy-occupied building and said:

“Piper, give ’em the works! Capacitor discharge!”

Isis’ Gremlin Drone let out a series of combative chirps before it flew through an open window. A moment later, the building lit up as though it had been struck by lightning! Kathleen and Soylent both trained their sniper rifles on the windows and fired on anyone trying to escape from the drone’s electroshock weapon! Using her free hand, Chihiro surrounded herself, Himawari, Sophie, Sophia, and Blake under a protective dome of Psionic energy.

Under the protective shield, Sophie and Sophia moved across the runway at a brisk pace towards the Avenger. To her left, Chihiro saw dark shapes moving along the runway. Every few seconds, she saw the unmistakable light of a muzzle flash appear next to these murky shadows. Bullets and Gauss slugs flickered through the air as they were deflected by Chihiro’s telekinetic shield.

Pop! Snap!

Bullets suddenly soared much closer to the trio! Looking around, Chihiro realized that she had suddenly blacked out! Without her powers, Sophie and Sophia were now extremely vulnerable to gunfire! Chihiro looked forward and saw that she was now just two hundred feet away from XCOM’s mobile HQ.

“Almost there!” She yelled. “Just keep going!”

Sophie and Sophia quickened their pace. The Avenger’s boarding ramp was just ahead! Chihiro could see the light of Chief Shen’s workshop at the top of the ramp!

And then, six people descended the ramp. Akira Robinson, carrying a long, thin object, was being escorted off the Avenger by two Templars: Duane Gardner and Violet, two Reapers: Elena Dragunova and Ivan Kuznetsov, and the battered form of Ignatius Petoskey, which contained the Composer of Strands! As the group stepped into the illumination of the runway lights, Chihiro got a glimpse of what Akira was holding…

It was Hachiman, the Demon Katana.

“STOP!”

Not knowing if the blackout was over, and not wanting to test her Gift right now, Chihiro drew the Shadowkeeper, chambered a round, and took aim at Akira’s head. Reflexively, Ivan and Elena both raised their own rifles at Chihiro.

“Don’t kill her!” Akira ordered. “Just put a round in her leg!”

Chihiro, Ivan, and Elena all fired their weapons at the same moment! The air between the combatants cracked as though the Universe itself was about to split open! A barely visible barrier absorbed all three rounds and a voice spoke up from behind Chihiro:

“That weapon belongs to me, Paradox!”

Six more people had arrived on the scene: Mira, Bradford, Shen, Reepi, Manako, and Makara. They were all armed with a wide array of advanced weapons and armor. Mira pointed a Psionic Amplifier at Akira and spoke again:

“The Triple Alliance is on the way with warships and soldiers. You’re surrounded!”

“So much for your scheme, Paradox.” Chief Shen taunted. “Give it up, it’s over!”

Akira shook her head and tightened her grip on the Katana.

“No.” She answered. “No, I won’t. Not when we’re so close to the perfect future.”

“DOES THIS LOOK PERFECT TO YOU!?” Bradford hollered, gesturing to the airport terminal, engulfed in smoke and flames. “How the fuck does killing our people and wrecking our base make anything perfect!?”

Akira paused for a moment, then replied in a cold voice:

“It was necessary. Everything I’ve done, everything… it’s all to make sure this war ends the right way. You know that better than anyone here, Mira.”

For a moment that felt like an eternity, Mira looked into Akira’s eyes.

“I do know that.” Mira finished. “That’s why I’m going to kill you, Akira. Right here, right now.”

And without another word, Mira aimed her Psionic Amplifier at Akira! A force, invisible but immense, shook the whole airport as Mira’s telekinetic attack sailed downrange! Akira deflected the incoming blow and sent it upwards and behind her! The telekinetic pulse struck the hull of the Avenger and did full damage! XCOM’s flagship split open like a melon and erupted into flames!

Chihiro, Sophie, and Sophia threw themselves to the ground as a huge battle erupted around them! Himawari shrieked louder than ever, only to be drowned out by the incessant gunfire of Bradford’s multipurpose rifle! Shen, like Bradford, fought with firearms, but also used her own Gremlin Drone as well. Elena and Ivan had to dive for cover, hiding behind the burning wreckage of the Avenger and poking their heads out every few moments to take potshots at Mira or her comrades.

In the midst of this all, Reepi Imvu had taken flight! With talons at the ready, the huge red and blue peacock dove on the enemy! Duane and Violet were in their element! The two fighters weaved and ducked around their enemies, deflecting incoming rounds and tearing up pieces of the runway with telekinesis to make improvised cover. Violet tried to open up a Psionic Rift, which could have swallowed up Mira, but Manako Ranginui headed her off with a wall of Soulfire!

Somehow, Commander Bradford found his way over to Chihiro, Himawari, Sophie, and Sophia. The three women and baby had all taken cover behind a pulverized hulk that had once been one of the Avenger’s VTOL engines. The stretcher carrying Blake was behind Sophie, and Blake himself was still unconscious, perhaps in moment of cosmic mercy.

“Are you alright!?” Bradford yelled over the din of battle. “Is anyone hurt?”

Chihiro and Sophie both nodded. Sophia, on the other hand, wasn’t really listening. She was poking her head out of cover and was watching the battle… or more specifically, she seemed to be watching just one Reaper in particular.

Bradford grabbed Sophia and pulled her back towards the group.

“All three of you, get Trojan and that kid out of here!” he yelled. “The rest of your squad is back by the terminal!”

A huge explosion caused Bradford to look around! Chihiro had to stand on tiptoe to see what was going on. Even Himawari widened her eyes to take a look.

Mira, Makara, Duane, and Akira were all locked together in vicious Psionic combat! Thunder and lightning exploded between them, each shockwave sending dirt and debris into the air around them! Akira conjured up a shimmering construct of Psionic energy, a semicorporeal obelisk that stood between herself and Mira. Using it for cover, Akira started venting white Soulfire from the Demon Sword towards Mira!

Swooping down from above, Reepi seemed to catch the white Soulfire in his wake! Dragging the inferno through the air behind him, the Vanian turned in a wide arc and redirected the supernatural flames towards Akira! A beam of bright light jumped from Akira’s hand and connected with the great bird! In an instant, Reepi and Akira had traded places! With no time left to react, Reepi was engulfed by the white Soulfire and fell to the ground with a pained screech! Chihiro waved her free hand and blanketed the screaming Vanian in her own power! At once, the Soulfire was extinguished, leaving Reepi terribly injured but still alive.

Then Chihiro heard a yell behind her:

“Sophia! Come back!”

Sophia Kuznetsova had broken from cover and charged headlong into the fight; a small brown object clasped in her hand. Chihiro felt her heart go into a frantic quickstep when Sophie said:

“Tachibana, is that your gun!?”

Somehow, while Chihiro was distracted, Sophia had stolen the Shadowkeeper. Chihiro scrambled to her feet and started to follow, but the loud snap of a sniper round zipping past her head caused her to look around. Elena Dragunova had just taken a shot at Chihiro and missed! From her harness, Himawari let out a high-pitched scream!

“YOU BITCH!” Chihiro roared. “I’M HOLDING A BABY!!”

Elena never knew what hit her. Chihiro sent a Psi Lance hurtling through the air and it connected with the Reaper’s shoulder before she could line up another shot. So much force was imparted that Elena flew ten feet backwards and struck her head on the tarmac before rolling over and coming to rest. Chihiro didn’t check to see whether Elena was still alive. Instead, she continued following the trail Sophia had blazed through the wreckage of the Avenger. Stepping through a pillar of acrid black smoke, both Chihiro and Himawari coughed and hacked so hard that their eyes watered. Chihiro could hear a quiet, repetitive noise.

Click. Click. Click.

As Chihiro’s vision returned, she found herself looking on a ghastly sight:

Ivan Kuznetsov was lying faceup on what had once been the Resistance Ring conference table. Blood pooled around his head and torso, while his daughter stood over him. Sophia seemed to be in a trance. She aimed Chihiro’s Shadowkeeper at Ivan’s body and pulled the trigger over and over again, seemingly unaware of the fact that she had run out of ammunition.

Chihiro let out a whimper at the sight and grabbed Sophia, pulling her away.

“I thought….” Sophia mumbled. “I thought I’d feel better if I… if… if I…”

Now having to support both Himawari and Sophia in her arms, Chihiro could only move at a slow pace through the wreckage. When she came back out onto the tarmac, their troubles only seemed to get worse.

The battle was still raging outside. Commander Bradford was lying facedown on the runway, blood staining his sweater. Mira had picked up his rifle and redoubled her assault on Akira. The Paradox, meanwhile, continued beating back the efforts of multiple assailants. Duane and Violet plied the flanks, diverting Mira and the Ranginui twins attention. Chief Shen was using her Gremlin drone’s medical protocols to try and get both Bradford and Reepi back into the fight.

Sophia stumbled, causing Chihiro to nearly drop both her and Himawari.

“Come on, get up!” Chihiro shouted. “We’ve gotta get outta here before-”

Sophia pointed to the far end of the battlefield and exclaimed!

“Jericho!”

Jericho attacks a hostile Human during the Battle of Nagasaki. The outbreak of violence at XCOM HQ came as such a surprise that she did not have time to don armor or aquire a modern weapon, instead choosing to fight with her old Bolt Caster instead.

The single word leaving Sophia’s mouth had been more powerful than anything else this night. Chihiro felt her heart lighten considerably as she turned her head to follow the direction Sophia was pointing. Charging headlong across the open runway and drawing closer with every second was Jericho herself, a Psionic Amplifier clutched tightly in one hand.

“Holy God! We’re saved!” Sophie shouted.

Violet seemed to know the tide was about to turn.

“We’re outmatched!” the red-haired Templar yelled. “We’ve gotta get out of here!”

A ring of Soulfire ignited around the battleground, trapping all of the combatants inside a circle of fire! Manako raised one hand up to the sky, commanding the supernatural fire to burn higher and more intensely!

“You’ll go nowhere, Paradox!” He shouted. “Your time has run out!”

Brandishing the Demon Sword at her opponents, Akira stood her ground.

“I won’t let you undermine everything I’ve worked for!” Akira answered. “You won’t take my future from me!”

And the Demon Sword shot out of her hands like a bullet from a gun!

This time, Chihiro really did drop Sophia. Keeping hold of Himawari with one hand, Chihiro raised a telekinetic barrier between Akira and the Partogans! Manako, Makara, and Mira all stood their ground and did the same! Four psionic shields overlapped and became one! The Demon Sword halted in midair, as four people pushed it from one side, and three pushed it from the other! Duane and Violet both applied their mental powers to the Katana, pushing it towards Chihiro’s allies! For two seconds, it was a stalemate! Then…

CRACK! CRACK!

Two gunshots rang out! Violet collapsed to the ground, blood spurting from her stomach! Duane spun halfway around before falling over, his left arm falling useless at his side! Sophie Ackermann, clutching the sniper rifle that had once belonged to Ivan Kuznetsov, took aim at Akira! The Paradox directed her eyes onto the weapon and it burst into flames! Sophie dropped the rifle, screaming! Jericho erupted through the wall of fire! An unnatural scream escaped Akira’s mouth!

“This is my future, my destiny! I spent a thousand lifetimes to build this and you won’t take it from me!”

With one last herculean push, Akira broke the stalemate! Her power overwhelmed Mira, Chihiro, Makara, and Manako! The Demon Sword smashed through the Psionic shields, soared through the air at breakneck speed-

And impaled Makara.

The entire weapon passed through Makara’s body, entering her chest and leaving from the middle of the back, spraying Manako and Mira with blood as the Katana sailed through the wall of fire and out of sight! Manako clutched at his chest and his scream of anguish was lost amongst his sister’s voice! From where she stood, Chihiro could see Makara’s knees buckle. The younger Ranginui twin grabbed the front of her brother’s uniform, a look of terror etched onto her face.

“Manako…”

Makara slumped to the ground, and Manako fell to her knees, holding her tightly as he broke down completely.

“Maka… stay with me! Maka! MAKA!!”

A flash of white light, accompanied by the sound of rushing air signaled the Katana’s return to Akira’s hand. But Chihiro only had eyes for the Ranginui twins. Makara dropped her rifle and seized her brother’s hand with both of hers. Choking, gurgling on her own words, Makara rasped out the words:

“Me- my… memories… take them, take them all!”

Nobody could see what Manako was doing, but Chihiro could sense it. Psionic energy enveloped Makara as Manako put his special power to use, extracting every single experience, memory, and recollection from his sister’s mind and storing them in his own. Makara’s final breath caught in her chest, and she clutched her bother tightly until it was all over.

Chihiro didn’t see what happened to Manako after that. Her attention had turned to the next confrontation. A few feet away, Jericho drew a Psionic Amplifier with her free hand and switched it on. A swirling orb of purple light illuminated the battlefield more brightly than the burning hulk of the Avenger. The Demon Katana was wreathed in blue Soulfire as Akira aimed it towards Jericho.

The two women began to circle one another, weapons at the ready.

<== Previous Chapter (The First Day)

Next Chapter (Jericho versus Akira) ==>​

​

 

[HistoryDude]

"Take them, take them all". Why, though?

Also, how is this the perfect future? Why do so many have to die?

And so Akira and Jericho's battle begins...

Hell hath no fury like a mother protecting her child...

Why is a Shroud-Being aiding Akira? Does it have a choice?

Akira... you've already taken the futures of so many... so why should you get one? Do you even deserve it?

For that matter, although stopping the destruction of almost all sentient life is a noble goal, is it really what Akira wants? Because she isn't acting like that's true.

 

[Macavity116]

"Take them, take them all". Why, though?

In Chapter 27, it was stated that Makara Ranginui assisted with the design (and early construction) of the Trinity. During the final chapter of My Sistership, Mira stated that it was of the utmost importance that Makara's "Unbound Technology" survives all the way to the final battle. The survival of Makara herself wasn't necessary, but all of her knowledge about how to physically integrate a person into their spaceship is of crucial importance. By conserving all of his sister's memories, Manako has ensured that none of Makara's knowledge died with her.

Also, how is this the perfect future? Why do so many have to die?

For that matter, although stopping the destruction of almost all sentient life is a noble goal, is it really what Akira wants? Because she isn't acting like that's true.

Its starting to look increasingly like this future is going to be perfect for Akira herself and few others.

Why is a Shroud-Being aiding Akira? Does it have a choice?

Akira definitely stole the Eater of Worlds and Composer of Strands by force. Cross your fingers and hope that Jericho can do something about that in the next chapter.

Akira... you've already taken the futures of so many... so why should you get one? Do you even deserve it?

That question is quite pertinent.

Hell hath no fury like a mother protecting her child...

Elena Dragunova is lucky to be alive. Chihiro probably wouldn't have lost any sleep if she had killed her.

so Akira and Jericho's battle begins...

You've no idea how badly I've wanted to preserve this upcoming battle in written words. I had more fun writing Chapter 41 than all of After Everything.

 

[Macavity116]

Earlier today, @HistoryDude nominated me for Best Character Writer of the Week! Many thanks, friend!

As is tradition, the newest chapter of The Stormbreakers will be posted immediately. (As in, right now!)

Honestly, I think it's appropriate. Considering how close to the end we are now, it's fitting that the last time I have a celebratory early release will be for the one part of the entire trilogy I enjoyed writing the most.

Thanks again for the nod, @HistoryDude, and I hope all of you enjoy my favorite chapter in the entire Stormbreaker Trilogy!

​

<== Previous Chapter (Return of the Paradox)

Next Chapter (All Our Sins Remembered) ==>​

Chapter Forty-One
Jericho versus Akira
​

Wednesday, August 6, 2036 – 5:30pm
XCOM Headquarters, Nagasaki, Kyushu Island

It seemed as though the rest of the battle had been forgotten. Combatants from both sides stopped fighting and directed their gaze towards the ring of fire that had surrounded the wreckage of the Avenger. The orange evening light cast Jericho and Akira’s shadows far along the runway, but from her position, Chihiro could only see their silhouettes against the backdrop of fire. Knowing exactly what was about to happen, Chihiro seized the medical stretcher and began dragging Blake to safety, hiding both him and herself behind a huge metal ring that had once been one of the Avenger’s VTOL engines. Then Chihiro poked her head out from cover to see what happened next.

Jericho and Akira were both moving in a slow circle around the battlefield, keeping their eyes locked on one another. Sparks of light and tiny arcs of energy briefly sputtered into life between them before disappearing as wave after wave of Psionic energy collided between the two women.

“It’s time to stop, Akira!” Jericho raised her voice at the Paradox. “You can’t do this!”

“Like hell!” Akira retorted. “I built this timeline! I put you all on this path! The path to a perfect future!”

Jericho looked at Manako, who wept as he clutched the lifeless body of his twin sister.

“Perfect for who?” Jericho asked. “Cause from where I’m standing, it looks like all this is just for you.”

Jericho took a step forward. Psionic energies ripped around her, and her boot prints spontaneously combusted, leaving a trail of Soulfire on the tarmac behind her.

“You found a way to reset the Cycle, to start all over again if things don’t go the way you want.” Jericho continued. “So, you decided to build yourself a perfect life, with the world and its people molded exactly the way you wanted. And you killed and destroyed anything, anyone who strayed off the path you made for them, if they fell out from under your control. You know what that is, Akira? That’s slavery, oppression… tyranny!”

“Tyranny!?” Akira gave a psychopathic laugh. “I’m not the Elders, Jericho! When I’m done, the Galaxy will come into an era of peace longer and greater than any before it! People will be safe and happy!”

“What about all of the people you’ve killed!?” Jericho shouted, “The families and nations you’ve left in ruins! You’ve destroyed whole civilizations just to make your perfect future happen! Do so many people need to die for your vision!? Did Makara really need to die so that you could have your better world!?”

Akira looked down on Manako and Makara. The surviving twin shot a look of pure hatred at the Paradox before she replied coldly:

“Yes. She did.”

It was as though lightning had struck at the exact same moment as both an earthquake and a volcanic eruption! The entire battlefield seemed to explode as Jericho and Akira tore into one another! A beam of purple light shot out of Jericho’s Amplifier, broke into twelve individual streaks of energy, and each one curved around, striking Akira at a different angle! The Paradox stumbled, recovered, and slammed one hand to the pavement! Six semi-transparent tentacle-shaped objects rose from the ground and started wrapping themselves around Jericho’s legs, holding her in place just long enough for Akira to launch another assault! An invisible force hit some kind of barrier just in front of Jericho and bounced back! Mira, Sophie, Sophia, Violet, Elena, and Duane were all blown off their feet by the sheer force of the wave!

Akira staggered, but stayed on her feet. In the moment it had taken the Paradox to regain her footing, Jericho had seized the initiative! She broke free of Akira’s binding attack and slashed her Amplifier through the air! The Demon Katana jumped out of Akira’s hands and skittered across the runway, beyond the ring of fire, and out of sight!

“Get that sword!” Akria shouted to her compatriots! “We need it!”

Duane Gardner and Elena Dragunova both sprang into action, moving to recover the Eater of Worlds, but Jericho was faster on the draw! A pillar of Soulfire erupted from her Amplifier as though it were a flamethrower! Duane dodged the attack but Elena was hit squarely in the chest, her whole body becoming enveloped in supernatural fire!

Jericho attacks Elena Dragunova with Soulfire during the Battle of Nagasaki.

Duane threw himself to one side to avoid being hit by Jericho’s attack and started to make another run towards the spot where the Demon Katana had fallen, but Jericho had something in store for him, too. She launched a swirling ball of Psionic energy through the air, which sailed over Duane’s head before crashing and exploding in roughly the same spot where Chihiro had found Sophia gunning down her father!

Assuming Jericho had aimed for him and missed, Duane ignored the Psionic blast and continued racing toward the Katana, only to be hit from behind and knocked off his feet! Chihiro couldn’t help but cheer as the re-animated corpse of Ivan Kuznetsov took another wild swing at Duane, forcing him to back away! Duane hurled Soulfire at the Zombie, but the creature ignored the blue flames licking at its flesh. It was already dead, after all. With no other option, Duane backed away, giving ground to the Zombie.

Behind him, Akira used Telekinesis to tear up massive strips of asphalt and throw them through the air at Jericho, who blasted them into smaller chunks and sent them flying back towards Akira!

“Are you out of your goddamned mind!?” Jericho screamed, “Did you forget your own timeline, Akira? You can’t get rid of me!”

“I can now!” Akira deflected another blow, then put her hands together. “I’ve found another way to get what I want, a way that doesn’t involve something as uncontrollable as you!”

Akira pulled her hands apart, revealing a small Psionic Rift! She pushed it through the air towards Jericho! A wide column of light shot down from the sky and enveloped Jericho! When the light faded, Chihiro saw that Jericho had Inverted with Violet! The rogue Templar had almost no time to react! The outer edge of the Rift tore at Violet’s flesh, spraying blood everywhere! The Templar screamed and collapsed to the ground!

A yellow flash pierced the sky before a jagged beam of light arced through the air towards Akira! The Paradox dodged the blow, leaping out of the confines of the ring of fire!

“I spent a hundred-fifteen Cycles trying to figure out how to make you do what I wanted!” Akira shouted at Jericho! “When another answer was in front of me all along!”

Jericho reappeared, standing on top of the shattered remains of the Avenger’s Elerium power core. She cocked one arm back and a semicorporeal lance appeared in her hand. Hurling it like a javelin, Jericho’s Psionic Lance rocketed towards Akira! The Paradox held both of her hands out, palms forward, and raised them to the sky! A four-sided pillar, made entirely of Psionic energy, rose from the ground in front of Akira! Jericho’s lance struck the face of the Psionic construct and dissipated!

By the time Akira moved out from behind cover again, Jericho was already following up. An immense telekinetic force washed over the entire battlefield! Chihiro screamed as she was forced down on her hands and knees! Around her, she saw that Manako, Sophie, Duane, and all other combatants had been forced to the ground as well! It was as though the Earth’s gravity had been magnified tenfold! It took all of Chihiro’s strength just to look up at the ongoing conflict, while behind her, Blake started coughing and gurgling blood from where he lay on the ground. In her harness on Chihiro’s chest, Himawari tried to scream but couldn’t! The force pushing down on her was too great!

Akira had fallen victim to the same telekinetic push! She redoubled her efforts to free herself, but no matter how hard she tried, Akira just couldn’t stand up.

“What the hell!?” Akira gasped. “How’d you get so strong all of a sudden!?”

“I’m not alone anymore!” Jericho replied; “NOW!”

Over her head, Chihiro could hear an intense rushing noise! Fighting the overwhelming forces that tried to keep her down, Chihiro looked up to see a formation of Vanians closing the distance! The entire Conclave of Telepaths had arrived, and their ranks had been augmented with that appeared to be…

A golden Ethereal!

A quick flash of white feathers and a clatter of talons caught Chihiro’s attention. Kanti Divakar, the albino peahen, had just landed next to her.

“Quick! Grab hold of your husband and child!” Kanti ordered. “We need to get you somewhere safe!”

Never in her life had the act of sitting up been so painful! Fighting against whatever force Jericho was using to keep Akira down, Chihiro was afraid her spine might snap as she propped herself up on her knees, grabbed her husband’s arm with one hand and secured her grip on Himawari with the other.

Kanti’s blood-red eyes flashed as her own Psionic powers washed over the Robinson family and those nearby. Chihiro felt as though the entire world was spinning like a top as she completely lost her bearings. After blinking a few times, she realized that she and nearly a dozen other people had re-materialized on the roof of the airport terminal, just a few hundred yards away from the main fight! Sophie and Sophia were holding one another very tightly as they watched the conflict below. Commander Bradford was still unconscious, and Manako Ranginui was being held down by both Holly Smith and Mira Mihaka. He was screaming:

“We can’t leave her! Maka’s still down there! We’ve got to go back!”

Meanwhile, the airport runway had taken on the appearance of a moonscape. The Conclave of Telepaths, their Ethereal ally, Kanti, and Jericho had encircled Akira and were attacking from all sides! Vanians soared through the evening sky and rained hellfire down on Akira while both Jericho and the Ethereal engaged from the ground! Akira had given up the initiative entirely and was focused only on her own defense!

Akira Robinson uses "Reflect." This is a Psionic technique that is very common among Psionic warriors. The caster projects a two-dimensional telekinetic field between themselves and an attacker. This technique will, if used properly, nullify any physical attack against the caster. Reflect is useless if the caster has insufficient focus or is taken by surprise.

Deflecting attacks as they came, the ground around the Paradox was pockmarked with smoking craters. The pavement beneath her feet began to melt and shift dangerously, and when Akira stumbled for just a moment, Jericho made her move!

From her vantage point on top of the ruins of the Avenger, Jericho raised one arm above her head, pointing her palm towards the sky! A bolt of lightning jumped into the heavens, arced over, and struck a seemingly empty portion of the sea! The following crack of thunder was loud enough to break every window in the airport and echo through the streets of Nagasaki! For a moment, Chihiro couldn’t see what Jericho had done, but then…

A movement caught her eye.

In the low evening light, Chihiro thought she was seeing an optical illusion at first. The waters around the airport seemed to change their quality in some indescribable way. The waters around the airport looked the same, but Chihiro could tell there was something very wrong with the sea now. Her sense of dread propagated to the other observers, and silence fell on the terminal roof. Sitting upright, Commander Bradford looked around and said:

“What the hell?”

And then, the Ariake Sea began to retreat.

The waterline itself pulled away from Nagasaki Airport until the causeway bridge became an isthmus. In seconds, the airport was no longer an island, but a peninsula jutting out into a rapidly shrinking body of water. Countless fish were left flopping and gasping as their home suddenly vanished. The seawater seemed to flee westward, towards the point where the Straits of Tsushima connected to the Pacific Ocean.

Meanwhile, the Conclave of Telepaths had done its best to keep Akira busy. Under a near-constant bombardment of Psionic attacks, she didn’t hear the loud roar coming from the western horizon.

Chihiro did hear it, and she knew full well what was causing that distant noise. The great roar was growing louder with every moment, as though the ocean itself was finally giving voice to its own unbridled rage. Like an oncoming freight train, the sound grew louder and more oppressive, drowning out all other noises until the great crashing sound made Chihiro’s eardrums rattle painfully! Himawari screamed, the sound of her voice lost as the air itself trembled and shook!

“TSUNAMI!” Chihiro shouted. “Everyone stay on the roof!”

A wall of raging water, roughly fifteen feet high and moving faster than a racecar, surged back into the basin and refilled the Ariake Sea in a matter of seconds, but it didn’t stop there! The cataclysmic wave swept up onto the shores of the island and overran the airport in its entirety! Akira didn’t realize what was happening until the very last second! A frothing wave filled with debris and wreckage swallowed her up and carried her along for a few dozen yards before slamming into the airport’s main building with the force of a crashing airplane!

Unable to withstand the fury of the ocean, the burned-out hulk of the Avenger began to collapse, washing away in the raging waters below. One of the Vanians folded his wings and dove, grabbing Jericho by the shoulders with his own talons and carrying her into the air. Himawari pointed towards Jericho and clapped her little hands excitedly.

Meanwhile, the tsunami waves continued to pulverize anything at ground level. One of the hangar buildings was torn up from its foundations and drifted a few yards before collapsing. A band of Reapers, who were trying to escape from Jericho’s onslaught, got caught on the causeway and were washed into the roiling sea. Meanwhile, more people were arriving on the roof of the airport, either from roof access doors or by climbing up the side of the terminal. Doctor Tygan let out a low whistle as he looked over the side towards the place where Akira had vanished.

“I daresay Jericho has achieved the impossible. There’s no way Miss Robinson would have survived this.”

“Wait a minute!” Sophie called out. “Look down there!”

About fifty feet away, Chihiro and the others could see a patch of strange shapes silently moving through the water, just below the surface. Before anyone could so much as ask a question, an invisible force began pushing seawater away from the mysterious object!

“It’s Gardner!” Bradford gasped.

Duane Gardner, covered in mud from head to toe, lowered his telekinetic shield and focused all of his powers into keeping the Tsunami waves at bay, while next to him, Akira wiped mud away from her eyes and looked up.

The entire Conclave of Telepaths came together and dove on Akira’s position! Jericho, Kanti, the Ethereal, and all of their Vanian comrades descended towards Akira in a great plume of Soulfire! From her vantage point on the airport roof, Chihiro raised one hand, took aim, and prepared to join the attack from afar! Akira focused her full attention on the incoming flock of Vanians. She reached forward with her right hand, made a grabbing motion… then pulled backwards.

It seemed as though Akira had torn a hole in the Universe itself! An all-consuming pit of darkness, no bigger than a coin, swallowed untold gallons of tsunami water completely before drawing in the ground and air around it! Wreckage and debris pelted into the air and vanished into the Wound! Akira’s power wiped out everything in the vicinity! It annihilated matter, destroyed space, stopped time, and then abolished the empty void left behind!

With one epic push, Akira sent the cosmic Wound flying towards the Conclave of Telepaths! The Vanian carrying Jericho realized what was about to happen and dropped her! Jericho fell twenty feet and hit the tsunami wave below, vanishing into its murky depths! The Vanians tried to scatter, but the Wound pulled them inexorably towards itself! One by one, Vanians fell into the Event Horizon and were pulled inside! Kanti had been further away when Akira had attacked, and was not caught in the Wound’s pull. She used telekinesis to seize her fellow Vanians and tried to pull them away from the Wound!

Chihiro, however, only had eyes for Akira. Even from here, she could see that whatever the Paradox was doing, it was costing all of her attention and energy. Duane was too busy holding back tsunami waves to notice an attack from behind.

A Psi Volt jumped out of Chihiro’s hand and arced through the air, striking Akira squarely in the back before jumping across to Duane! The sudden strike of chain lightning broke both of their concentration at once!

What happened next was like a scene out of a nightmare. Without Akira’s power to hold it steady, the Wound in the Universe began to grow out of control! It grew wider and wider, swallowing up whole stretches of the runway and eating into the biggest pieces of the Avenger! The entire tsunami wave lifted off the surface of the Earth and began to drain into the Wound! Kanti didn’t give up on saving her kin, and only let go when one of the Conclave members forced her to. Kanti put as much distance between herself and the rapidly growing Wound as possible while the last members of the Conclave of Telepaths was sucked inside!

“Incredible!” Doctor Tygan had to shout to make himself heard above the chaotic noise. “The energy required to do this is incomprehensible!”

“It ain’t over yet!” Bradford yelled. “Look!”

Jericho had reappeared! She had somehow managed to secure herself to the ground and was not being pulled towards the rapidly growing Wound! Instead, she had raised one hand up, as though she intended to grab the singularity in her fist! Psionic energy began to radiate out of Jericho’s body, wrapping her in an eerie purple aura. Keeping her focus on the Wound, Jericho closed her fist!

At once, it all came rushing back! Energy, matter, time... the building blocks of the surrounding Universe started pouring into the Wound in much the same way that water rushes into an empty bowl that was dropped into a sink. The implosion pulled Chihiro forcefully towards its epicenter, and she had to grip onto a railing along the edge of the roof to avoid being pulled any further. In her harness, Himawari didn’t understand what has happening, yet still found the situation to be downright terrifying, shrieking and screaming the whole time.

Meanwhile, the Wound began to contract! The seemingly bottomless pit of darkness grew smaller and smaller with each moment as Jericho extinguished Akira’s destructive power! The winds died down, the ocean calmed, and finally, Jericho slammed the Wound shut, closing the tear in the Universe! At long last, the immediate crisis was over. Panting, Jericho turned her attention to Akira. Chihiro looked down towards Akira as well, and for a moment, she was completely stunned.

The Paradox was unmistakably incapacitated. Unable to stand on her own, Akira was being held up by Duane and Elena, her arms around their shoulders. Jericho pointed one hand towards Akira, aiming to kill.

“You know I can’t let you.” Duane told Jericho. “Our future depends on her.”

“You’re wrong.” Jericho replied. “We’re going to make our own future, all of us, today.”

With his free hand, Duane raised the Demon Katana to the sky. A beam of light shot out of Jericho’s hand and rocketed towards Akira! A column of white light shot down from the sky and he, Elena, and Akira all vanished, transported away in an instant. Jericho’s beam attack sailed through the spot where Akira had just been, kept going, and slammed into the side of a nearby mountain, causing a massive rockslide to bury part of the tsunami-ravaged coastal city.

…

At long last, the battle was over. The sun was quickly descending behind the mountains of Kyushu on the western horizon, allowing Jericho to survey the damage beneath a blood-red sky:

XCOM Headquarters had been destroyed.

The Avenger was reduced to a hunk of scrap metal.

There was a massive crater in the center of Nagasaki Airport, and it was rapidly filling with seawater.

Tsunami waves had struck the town of Omura and the northern edge of Nagasaki, causing unspeakable death and destruction.

Nearly two dozen XCOM soldiers, the Conclave of Telepaths, the Ethereal named Apollo, and Makara Ranginui were all dead; worst of all…

Both the Composer of Strands and the Eater of Worlds had been stolen.

As Chihiro and her comrades descended from the safety of the rooftops, she used Telekinesis to bring Blake’s stretcher down to ground level. Chihiro didn’t know if the Hypervital Module survived the destruction of the Avenger, and was already assuming that it had not. Levitating Blake alongside her, Chihiro sprinted across the runway. She was desperate to ask Jericho to heal her husband, the same way Jericho had healed her after the Second Battle of Pyongyang last year.

But as she approached, Chihiro noticed that Jericho was going through a moment of her own. The young Hawaiian was walking across the now-silent battlefield, gazing around at the death and destruction, most of which had been caused by her fight with Akira. Looking around at Chihiro, Jericho had tears in her eyes.

“Look at this.” Jericho sobbed. “Look at what we just did. Look at… look at what I just did!”

Jericho knelt down next to an XCOM soldier who had come to rest facedown in the mud. She rolled the body over. Both Jericho and Chihiro saw that it was Pyotr Ilyshin, the man who had killed the Chosen Warlock during the conflict against ADVENT. Chihiro couldn’t tell if Pyotr had been killed in combat or drowned during the tsunami.

Jericho grabbed Pyotr’s ID tags and pulled until they broke free. Clutching the metal tabs and chain in her hand, Jericho choked back a sob and declared:

“I hate it. I hate the Gift. I wish Psionics never existed at all!”

<== Previous Chapter (Return of the Paradox)

Next Chapter (All Our Sins Remembered) ==>​

 

[HistoryDude]

You’re welcome.

All Our Sins Remembered is ominous (I say, having literally named a chapter in one of my own AARs Be All My Sins Remember’d).

Careful what you wish for, Jericho. You might just get it.

Although, if Psionics is nonexistent, perhaps the Beast never got so threatening?

What was Akira’s plan to replace Jericho? And why did it take 116 cycles to realize it?

Well, that Wound was…devastating.

Where’s Mira during all of this?